Lilith

I heard what sounded like the front door squeaking open. I assumed Lilith had come looking for me and wondered what was taking me so long, so I put the map back down after making a mental note of everything I had seen. Surely, there must've been some kind of importance to it, but I wasn't about to try folding it up in order to squeeze it into a pocket.

I moved as quickly as I could without making too much noise. I did my best to slither through the partially open door before pulling it to within an inch of being closed. I then accelerated down the hallway and made my way into the kitchen. My socks slid on the wood as I turned to face the doorway...and saw Lilith standing there in her overalls with a look of dread on her beautiful face. When she met my eyes, I noticed her letting out a sigh of relief...while still looking confused as to why I was coming from somewhere on the first floor of the house when the only bathroom was upstairs.

I knew I had some explaining to do...but when both of us suddenly heard a noise coming from the level above us, we knew that the old bat was awake. I motioned with my head for my blue-skinned compeer to duck back out of the door she had just entered the house through, and she didn't question me for a second. I followed her out and pulled the wooden portal shut behind myself. Even though I didn't think the elderly woman would hear it, I made sure to hold the squeaky storm door while gently pushing it closed instead of letting it fall shut on its own.

I followed Lilith across the cul-de-sac as we booked it back toward the barn. It felt odd doing so: I was a man who had spent two years of his life traveling with a trio of skilled operatives and seeing the worst the world had to offer, yet here I was running from some old lady like she could actually hurt me. I had been taught how to defend myself against some of the most inhumane and vicious killers in the world with my bare hands, so it was somewhat comical that I felt the need to flee.

Of course, I may have had the knowledge of how to protect myself and others from grave threats, but that didn't mean that I always fell back on my expertise. I wasn't the type of person to treat every minute of my life like I was in a war zone, so I refrained from violence whenever I could. I may have had the ability to make sure that both Lilith and I remained out of harm's way, but I didn't disregard the lives of others...even if I didn't care much for someone like the old bat.

It should be known, though, that if I truly felt threatened in any way, I wouldn't hesitate to stand my ground. If the old woman who owned the property suddenly pulled out an axe and morphed into a creature that had tentacles bursting out of her that were actually worms with razor sharp teeth...

Okay, that last description may have been a bit of a stretch, but I used to do a lot of fantasy writing and have made up some pretty bizarre creatures in my time. I guess the whole point of what I'm trying to say is that if I thought for even a second that the elderly lady back in the house was going to legitimately hurt Lilith or myself, I would be able to do something about it without much of a problem. I could hold my own against the best of them.

As we made our way into the barn, my mind went back to the question I had been pondering since first meeting Lilith...and again, I found myself wondering what the connection was between the two women on this forgotten stretch of land. They both highly disliked each other, and the older of the two had told me that my blue-hued angel was in no way a relation to her. I still thought maybe some of the documentation back in that office may explain more than I could see...

"Marcus!"

I glanced over at the raven-tressed beauty upon hearing her speak my name. It wasn't often when she expressed herself in words, but when she did, she had my full attention.

"What'd you do?"

I realized I had to come clean and tell Lilith what I had actually been up to back in the house. She obviously knew that I hadn't gone inside to relive myself, and I certainly didn't want her to lose trust in me. Glancing behind myself to make sure we were still alone, I cleared my throat and took a step closer to the stunning female. I then looked her right in the eyes as I placed a hand on her left shoulder and sternly said, "I wanted answers, Lilith."

The beauteous young woman looked at me with more confusion on her face than I may have had bottled up inside of myself in that moment. The frown on her face told me that if I didn't give her a better explanation, I would be breaking her fragile, little heart.

Trying to find the right words, I decided to confess, "I want to know more about you and the old woman, Lilith."

"Antenora." After speaking the name, she spat on the floor of the barn.

I was a little shocked to receive such information from my blue-skinned compeer. It was amazing that I had been in the presence of these two women for almost thirty hours and was just now hearing the old crone's name. I waited for a few seconds and wondered if Lilith would give me more information, but when she didn't, I decided I had to press her for more. I gingerly squeezed her shoulder and demanded, "Lilith, you have to tell me what's going on here! I want so much to help you, but I can't do that if you don't give me something to work with!"

The raven-tressed angel's head drooped as she stared at the ground beneath her bare feet.

I placed my left hand on her other shoulder and mildly started to shake her. "Lilith, please give me something...anything! I want to help you! I want to take you away from here!"

I could hear the chartreuse-eyed beauty as she started to snivel a bit before throwing herself at me and wrapping her arms around me. She started to cry as I held her and tried my best to be supportive. I started rocking back and forth a bit much like a mother soothing an infant. It was heart-wrenching to hear her weep.

I placed one hand on the sobbing woman's back and the other on the back of her head. I held her close before running a hand through her black and red tresses. "There, there," I tried to calm her down. "You know me, Lilith. You know I would never hurt you and that I'm on your side." She also knew more than she was telling me, but I didn't want to say that aloud.

"She's...evil," the young woman finally blubbered as she put extra emphasis on her last word.

I believed her. It wasn't because she had let me bone her earlier in the day back in the woods, but because I honestly felt that the elderly woman named Antenora had something on my delicate little angel. While I may have thought the two females were playing each other against me at first, I was firmly under the impression that Lilith was the victim.

As I cradled the wonderful woman and held her close, my mind once again went back to the fact that Antenora had tried leaving earlier in the morning in order to go get orange juice. Her departure told me that there was some kind of civilization nearby...and it made me wonder how those people couldn't have known of Lilith's presence. It seemed to me like at some point, one of them would have to journey out here to help the old homeowner...whether it be with the plumbing, the electricity or something that a woman of her age wouldn't be able to fix.

And what about the times when she had left before I showed up? If Lilith was indeed some kind of slave carrying out the old crone's each and every desire, why wouldn't my blue-hued angel try to escape her thralldom anytime Antenora left the property? Was there truly nowhere she could escape to close by?

I had so many thoughts swimming through my head. I told myself that if everyone in society treated poor Lilith the same way Antenora did, then it was no wonder she never tried to escape. Where could she go if everyone in the surrounding community wanted to burn her at the stake just because she was different?

After a long, comforting embrace, I finally pulled away from Lilith and held her by the tops of her arms. Once again, I stared directly into her eyes as I told her, "Lilith, is there something in the woods out that way?" I pointed to the northeast.

The dark-haired woman tensed up. Her eyes were riddled with a combination of fear and surprise. I could tell that she wondered how I knew about whatever it was I was pointing at. Realization then filled her orbs when she recalled how I had entered the kitchen from the direction of the office. She perceived that I had uncovered something...something important.

"What is it, Lilith? What's out in the woods?"

Once again, my only friend in all this madness lowered her head so she could stare at the ground. I wasn't sure if she remained silent out of fear or for some other reason.

"Lilith, I'm not going to let anyone or anything hurt you. As long as I'm around, you're going to be safe...I promise you that."

The young woman finally met my eyes once again. I shuddered due to how unimaginably beautiful they were, but my mind was taken completely away from them when she finally responded. "I will take you there...tonight."

* * *

It was roughly half past ten when I heard the door of my room begin to slowly open. I had been lying in the dark with the lamp out and only had the light of the moon and stars from outside as my source of illumination, but when I saw that portal gradually open, I knew that my blue-hued angel had finally appeared. She was as good as her word.

I pushed the covers off myself and stood up. As I did so, I was more than a little surprised to see that Lilith was completely nude. At first, I thought that she might have intended to go back on her promise in an attempt to seduce me and keep me in the house...but then it occurred to me that there was a very real possibility that the overalls may have been the only clothes she had. I hoped that wasn't the case.

I pulled a pair of jeans on over my boxers as I asked my black-haired compeer if she wanted to borrow a pair of my pants. I also inquired as to whether or not there were any boots downstairs that she could use because I didn't want her marching through the forest on her bare feet. I knew she was tough and that she had been working in the woods earlier in the day without any kind of shoes on, but if what I had seen on that map was any indication of how far we would be going, I wanted her feet protected.

Lilith didn't have much to say. I could sense that she was beginning to regret the promise she had made to me earlier in the day.

Even through the semidarkness, I could see the female with luscious lips frowning. I wasn't sure if it was because I was covering my body up and we weren't going to make love, or because she truly didn't want to go where I was asking her to take me. I felt bad for requesting this favor of her, but I needed some answers about what was going on around here. If I wasn't going to receive them verbally, I required the next best thing...and that was to see them for myself. I had myself convinced that the buckskin map was the key to everything going on somehow.

After pulling on a shirt, I once again asked Lilith about finding something to wear. I reached out to grab one of her arms since I was adamant about her covering up...and I realized she was cold to the touch. I wasn't sure what it was like outside, but I knew the temperature had dipped a few hours earlier. "You have to put something on, Lilith. Do you have a robe or anything?"

The young woman shook her head.

I pulled one of my bags forward from where it sat against a wall and started digging through it. I pulled out a shirt and a pair of pants. I also found some boxers and socks, so I handed everything to Lilith and demanded that she put them on. She looked a little hesitant at first, but then she finally caved and did as I asked. I knew I shouldn't have been thinking it at that moment, but I looked forward to wearing those clothes in the near future since they were going to be on her.

We crept toward my doorway and stuck our heads out at the same time in order to stare down the hallway in the direction of Antenora's bedroom. I wondered if the old bat was hanging upside down in her room while fast asleep.

"We have to be very quiet," I whispered to the head directly below me. "I don't know her sleeping habits as well as you do, so if she's a light sleeper..."

Lilith shook her head. I'm pretty sure she was telling me that as long as we remained quiet and mindful of the situation, we should be all right.

As we tiptoed through the hallway and toward the staircase that would take us directly downstairs and to the front door, I had the sudden thought about how Lilith's room was quite literally down the hall from the guest room I had been allowed to use. I felt like I hadn't really contemplated it much before, but I started wondering just how the hell Lilith and Antenora were able to sleep peacefully only a few rooms away from one another each and every night. For how much they apparently loathed one another, it made no sense how they coexisted. It wasn't like Antenora was keeping my blue-skinned compeer locked in a closet or anything. It seemed particularly odd that the old bat would let someone she so fervently hated a room all to herself. Not that I wanted her locking Lilith away, of course, but it just didn't add up...

After locating my shoes, I came to the realization that the only other footwear near the old welcome mat belonged to Antenora. I thought about letting Lilith use my shoes, but her feet were much smaller than mine. I then motioned toward the old crone's shoes, but they were even more impractical. It looked like Lilith would have nothing more than the socks I had forced her to put on...which I suppose was more than she usually wore.

We made our way out into the night. We didn't have a flashlight or any kind of device to light our progress, but the stars were bright and would possibly guide us part of the way. I think apart from illumination, my biggest concern was the chill in the air. Personally, I didn't mind the cold; in fact, I daresay I enjoyed brisk weather over warm weather. I would be totally fine...but I was concerned for my blue-skinned compeer. I didn't want her coming down with a cold or anything.

Lilith took my left hand and started leading me toward the barn. We walked along the side of it and past one of the tractors I had seen earlier. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that the warmhearted woman would've loved stopping inside to feed and see the animals, but she knew there was a chance of them making noise since they weren't used to seeing her at night...and that would wake the old woman we were doing our best to avoid.

We rounded the backside of the barn and found the very small wooden bridge that had been built years earlier over the small brook. We had crossed it earlier in the day in order to enter the forest where I had been chopping and gathering firewood...and of course where we had shared a tender moment of love-making. I didn't bother mentioning said bridge earlier in my tale because of how insignificant it was: It was quite literally no longer than five feet.

As we made our way into the woodland, I squeezed Lilith's hand while asking her if her feet were okay. I expected the nod she gave me in return, and I hoped she was being honest with me. I knew she never wore shoes, but we were about to tread some pretty uneven ground.

Due to the dark boughs overhead, visibility became almost nil. Even with the sorties I had been on in the past, I had a hard time navigating our path...so I guess it was a good thing that Lilith seemed to know right where we were going. It almost seemed like she had some kind of built-in night vision since she had no problem leading the way.

As we trudged forward, I noticed that my dark-haired escort was following a rather curvy and winding path. I felt like stumbling about such a serpentine route seemed unnecessary, but I recalled the dotted lines I had seen marked on the old buckskin. I decided to not intervene since Lilith seemed to have us oriented on the right path.

I could feel the eyes of the woodland creatures upon us the deeper we traveled into the growth of timber and greenery. While I sensed a bit of fear from some, I felt that the gazes of others offered us no sympathy. It was as if they knew exactly what we were working our way toward.

The further we traveled into the dense woods, the more prominent a certain odor became in my nostrils. The sulfurous reek of a magma lake became almost overwhelming...which made little to no sense since we were in an area with outright zero volcanic activity.

I lost all sense of time as I continued to let Lilith pull me along. I was obsessed with finding answers as to what was going on...and I had convinced myself that the resolution I craved was to be found at the "X" marked on the buckskin map. Probably not the brightest notion I've ever had since I didn't truly have any evidence, but at the moment, it was all I had to go on...so I was sticking to it.

After following the convoluted trail Lilith had me on, we eventually made our way out of the forest and into a dell. The trees thinned out and the land slanted here and there. Autumn had started to affect the area since there were some leaves on the ground, and the smell I had picked up on earlier was even more poignant throughout the region. The secluded space seemed devoid of life, for I couldn't sense anything other than Lilith and myself on the stretch of land.

Going back to what I had seen on the buckskin map, I knew we were getting closer to our destination. Fortunately for me, the lack of trees in the area allowed more moonlight to brighten up the region so I could see a little better. I only mention myself because Lilith seemed to have no problem seeing in the dark.

Speaking of my blue-skinned compeer, I suddenly noticed how tense she had become. I was ready to explore the vicinity and rush forward, but upon taking my first step, I felt her grasp on my hand tighten...and she didn't move with me. When I glanced back at her, I could clearly see angst etched across her face. Even through the semidarkness, it was apparent that she was terrified to be standing at the tree line.

Clasping her soft hand in both of mine as I stepped back toward her, I cocked my head since she wouldn't meet my eyes and questioned, "What is it, Lilith? You seem scared. Is something the matter?"

"Bad," she muttered in response while staring at the forest floor. "This place...is bad."

I didn't understand the straightforward answer. The simple connotations didn't go lost on me, of course, but I couldn't discern what troubled the young woman so much. I had seen my share of malevolence in the past, but I couldn't sense anything unpleasant about this particular place. "Why's it bad, Lilith? Did something bad happen here?" I made sure that my voice sounded both soothing and sympathetic at the same time.

"I...don't want to be here."

As an unearthly silence engulfed us, I found myself placing my hands on Lilith's upper arms while glancing behind myself and scanning the area. I mentioned before how still it was due to the fact that there were no animals around, and I knew from experience that Lilith always seemed attuned to everything going on around her. I recalled how much the animals in the barn enjoyed her tranquil presence, so discounting her warning wouldn't be in my best interest.

Since we had come all this way, I wanted nothing more than to explore the immediate vicinity...but there was no way I was going to force my frightened guide from her spot. I tried making eye contact with her once again as I queried, "Did something bad happen here, Lilith?"

The blue-skinned beauty nodded.