The Fallen Queen of Eden Ch. 04

"Looks like the two of you were happy once," the demoness commented as she put the photos back on the shelf.

"Looks can be deceiving. We met while hanging out with a group of mutual friends at a park one night and hit it off. We moved in together and things instantly started changing. Ruby just wanted to play. She spent my money like it was water, stopped showing up to her job, and preferred to spend her evenings in clubs. She was also very friendly with a co-worker of mine named Jimmy. The end came when I made a deal with a contractor to redo these floors. It was a cash deal so I went to the bank and took several thousand dollars out of my savings to pay the man. The next day, I discovered that the money was gone and so was Ruby." Talking about this ex-girlfriend brought a cold hardness to Eli's normally soft brown eyes that surprised Lili. This woman was truly a sore spot with him. "Something tells me that my story's not as interesting as yours."

"I don't know, even a short story can be insightful."

"Ready to go?" he asked, taking his keys from his pocket.

"Yes, but if it's alright with you, I need to make a stop before we go to the airport. It won't take more than a minute. I just need to get something from Millie's place, if it's okay. It's not too far from here. She lived above her bar over on Pleasant Street and Coleman Avenue" Elijah knew exactly where the place was and had no issue taking her there. In fact, he was a little curious to see the inside of the place. He must have passed it hundreds of times and wondered about it. The city had long since torn down all but two of these buildings and this was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.

Slipping on her sandals and grabbing her backpack the pair got in Eli's car and drove the mile or two to Millie's bar. The neighborhood that the old Firehouse sat in was a mix of old homes and turn of the last century storefronts, most of which had seen better days and were boarded up. No doubt these were the remnants of former corner grocery and hardware stores where everybody knew each other and gossip was exchanged regularly. Looking out of the windows at the neighborhood Lilith felt strange. Once she had talked and been friendly with those living and working on this street, now she wondered how many had sold her out. Which of these 'friends' and acquaintances had filled their pockets with the Preacher-man's gold in exchange for information on her comings and goings as well as who she spoke to?

The door to the bar was right there, not even a hundred feet away, but she couldn't move. She couldn't even pull the door handle to open the car door. All she kept thinking about was which corners the Preacher-man's minions were probably waiting behind. She looked at the various cars parked around the neighborhood and found herself questioning whether they were the ones that were normally parked there or spies already reporting her movements. Lili sat there paralyzed by her fear and paranoia. It wasn't until Eli clasped her hand in his and reassured her that he would go inside with her that she was able to finally open the door and get out.

Even with his reassurance, she darted quickly to the door, unlocked it and slipped inside. It wasn't a big place, but it did have an impressive counter that ran the length of the room and was fully stocked with almost everything, including a bottle of absinthe that Lili had purchased specifically for herself. The decor reflected the building's past with old photographs of the fire fighters that used to grace this building. Even the original elegant alarm bell hung in the same place it always had. In every other way, it looked like a typical dive bar with its pool table, a television that normally had some kind of sports game on and the lingering smell of cigarette smoke that permeated the air even when no one was there. There was also a jukebox but until the Preacher-man slid his quarter into it and played 'Pretty Woman', no one had thought it worked.

Lili stood looking at the chairs as they sat motionless on the tables where they were left and silently remembered. The sound of Millie's laugh when the demoness kicked the chair out from under a drunk as he tried to flirt with her came back to her recollection. To the demoness, this place was filled with Millie Daws and she wished she could hear that sweet raspy voice that would call you 'hon' or tell you to kiss her ass with equal enthusiasm and without taking the unfiltered chesterfield cigarette from her mouth. The old gal had called Lilith 'spirited', but never really understood just how 'strong' she really was.

"I like the memorabilia," Eli said suddenly. "Gives it a touch of history. I'm not quite sure I understand the oddly spaced black spots on the ceiling though." He commented as he pointed up to random spray paint blotches.

"That was not a design decision. That was the result of discovering that the place had been bugged with numerous tiny cameras. If you went upstairs you would see it there too. No corner went unmonitored including the fold-away couch bed where I slept and the shower. We discovered those two days before Millie was killed. It's hard to say how long they have been there, but we figured they were probably put in about four months ago when we went to the Buffalo Run Casino overnight. She thought I brought her good luck. Maybe I did on that trip, I mean, she was able to win back the cost of her little excursion after-all." Lili looked up at the black spots on the ceiling and furrowed her brow. "That was what Millie was so angry about the night she was killed."

Thinking about her friend and what had happened to her, Lilith suddenly wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. She dashed up the spiral staircase to the apartment above leaving Eli alone looking around the more than a century-old building. Elijah had said very little regarding Lilith's stalker and in truth, this was the first evidence of her story. Looking up at the dark spots on the ceiling he couldn't help but wonder, who was this guy? Why would anyone want to do this to someone?

Lilith wasn't shocked by the insanity of it all or even the cruelty. Hell was filled with twisted and evil souls, not just the lost and fallen. This was simply the first time it had been directed towards her and she was powerless to stop it. It was also the first time she had ever felt loss and she still wasn't certain how to process it. What she did know was that it hurt and even the smallest things, such as looking at Millie's clothes silently hanging in the closet, brought back some of the pain. She really didn't know why it bothered her, because she had witnessed countless human die and never once had she felt anything.

Lili tried not to think about it, but it seemed impossible. No matter where she looked, the entire apartment was filled with the ghost of its last owner. What the demoness really wanted was a drink, better yet a whole bottle to help her to silence the strange new feelings that Millie's murder stirred in her. She didn't dare touch any alcohol though. The last thing she wanted was for some idiot TSA agent to smell it on her and refuse to let her on the plane. She was best off just grabbing what she came for and then getting out of there. Silently she went over to the bookcase next to the television and examined the books. Millie boasted one of the foremost collections of romance novels in the tri-state area and could readily point out all the subtle differences.

Lilith ran her finger along the spines of what appeared to be an anthology following one particular buxom heroine then using both hands she pulled out the series. Rather than a collection of books, it was a false front concealing a small safe which Lilith opened. Inside there were two bundles of cash banded into two thousand-dollar stacks, the two favorite books she was missing and an antique wooden box that had the same mark on its lid that was engraved on her signet ring. Inside, the box held a turquoise and gold necklace that looked for all the world like a real snake along with its matching bracelet. Millie never knew about the safe and Lili preferred it that way. She had meant to empty it the night she ended up at the fair, but she had noticed headlights and her paranoia took over. This time she was doing it right. This time she got a suitcase and carefully packed up those items as well as the rest of her clothes and what she put in the backpack.

Downstairs Elijah was looking over the memorabilia that was hanging on the wall, particularly the photographs. He didn't know who would inherit Millie's or what was going to happen to all this old carefully preserved stuff. He hated to think that it would all end up in the trash. Perhaps there would be an estate sale or the items will be donated to the Springfield History Museum. Wandering into the back room, Eli found the usual items, cleaning supplies, glasses, unopened cans of nuts and such. There were even a couple of old neon signs lying propped up against the wall. One advertised Pabst Blue Ribbon beer on tap. Picking it up, he looked at it but other than its age he couldn't find anything wrong with it. Eli plugged it in and the sign came to life glowing a bright blue and white light.

He was about to unplug the sign when something else caught his eye. Beneath his feet was a mark on the concrete floor that was also faintly glowing. It had not been there when he entered the room, he was sure of that. Curious he knelt down and touched the smooth slab floor, but it wasn't painted, or stained, and it wasn't burned or etched into the masonry. There was no reason for the mark to be there at all. He also couldn't help wondering what it was because it appeared to be some kind of message or symbol that had been deliberately left there. It was a circle with a strange sort of lowercase 'h' in the middle. The 'h' was crossed at the top and the letter rested on a line that was also crossed at each end. He also saw the way that a portion of the letter dipped below the line and curled rather delicately. Intent on looking into what it could be Eli took out his phone and began taking pictures.

Lilith came back down the stairs, her missing items safely tucked inside her backpack and the jewelry now adorning her body. She didn't see Eli anywhere and was about to check outside when she noticed the door to the storeroom was open. She poked her head inside to tell him she was ready to go, but before she could speak Lili saw the symbol on the floor and Eli photographing it. Instantly she blanched. She knew exactly what he was looking at and how it got there. It was her sigil and it marked the place where she had been stripped of her power, by Millie. She hadn't done it on purpose, of course, and she never really knew what had happened.

Millie had always loved the idea of magic and readily believed in ghosts and spirituality as well as God. Knowing this, her son purchased a Ouija board that he had come across one day at a local pawn shop for about three dollars during one of his visits. The hope was that Millie would find some amusement trying to contact her late husband or perhaps talk with long-dead firefighters that still inhabited the building. Had Lilith known about it she would have made a point of getting rid of the board or the planchette so that it wouldn't work.

Poor Millie never knew exactly what had happened. She had been sitting at one of the tables happily playing with her board when to her shock the planchette began to move on its own. Lili had been working in the storeroom unaware of the 'game' unfolding. Millie began to write down and read what the board was spelling to her. A-D-E-M-O-N-I-S-A-M-O-N-G-Y-O-U it said then once more it started moving at a furious space, but only spelled out four letters: Y-H-W-H. The old woman had no idea what it meant, but the holy name no sooner escaped her lips and the door to the storeroom slammed shut.

Lilith was enveloped in a bright light that seemed to force her to her knees and hold her like a captive. Her voice echoed throughout the room as one by one she recited each of her hidden names. Scared and unsure of what was happening, Millie leaped from her chair and started beating against the door trying to open it. As the last name fell from her lips a ghostly version of Lili bearing her demonic form separated from her body. It might have seemed like a spirit in appearance, but to Lili, it felt as though she was being torn apart, inside and out. Unable to move, she could not even cry out in her agony. The room began to glow so bright that the old woman backed away in horror as it bled out from around the edges of the door. All at once it was suddenly over and the door creaked open. Millie found Lilith lying on the floor weak and unconscious. Until the day she died, she believed that while messing around with that board she had somehow summoned a demon. Lilith never corrected her or talked about it.

Elijah was the first person to notice the mark on the floor where her demon had passed through the veil back into Hell. She didn't know how she could explain it to him and she really didn't want to. She rather liked the fact that he saw her as a normal ordinary woman and wanted to keep it that way. It wasn't as though she was going to be around him for much longer anyway so why complicate things.

"Eli," she said, getting his attention. At the sound of her voice, he jumped slightly. He had been so focused on the strange mark that he never heard her come in.

"Sorry, I was just looking at this really weird design on the floor, I can't figure out how . . ."

"Uhhh, don't you think we should get going?" Lili interrupted, changing the subject.

"We'll get there." He slipped his phone back into his pocket and knelt down again to feel the concrete. Using her foot she kicked the plug from the socket turning off the neon light and causing the strange symbol to vanish. "How . . ."

"If it all the same to you I'd like to get going as soon as possible. The sooner I'm in the air the sooner my life can return to normal."

"Yeah . . . sure," Eli said, turning his attention back to her. "Come on, let's get you to the airport.