The Fallen Queen of Eden Ch. 07

"Holy Shit! The Preacher-man!? He's your stalker?! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" he shouted as he started the car and took off down the road. He had surmised that her stalker had some prominence, or else how could he have pulled off the airport incident. Never had he imagined it would be quite to the level of Levi Sethos. Eli had read enough news stories to know that this man rubbed elbows with movers and shakers. "I don't suppose you want to take a stab at telling me the whole story now?"

The whole story? Where would she begin? How much did she dare tell? There were some details she had yet to reconcile within herself so how could she possibly tell him? She looked out at the streetlights as they passed by and for a moment she could remember the feeling of being physically held down against a bed and his disgusting hands touching her as she struggled against him. Instantly she pushed the memory away. She couldn't let herself remember that night or she couldn't function. Closing her eyes, Lilith softly began to tell the story as best she could.

"I wandered into Springfield about two years ago and stopped for a drink at Millie's bar. A dive like that usually has the same people walking through the door night after night so naturally, a new face like mine caught everyone's attention. It took all of about five minutes for a couple of drunk guys to try and pick me up. One was a bit more 'insistent' than the other and he quickly found himself on the floor with my stiletto against his throat. That caught the attention of the owner, Millie Daws.

"You never met her, but she was pretty much your stereotypical tough old broad. You treat her right and she'll treat you right. She saw me land that drunk on his ass and was impressed. We sat there chatting late into the night and when she found out that I was new in town and had no place to stay, she took me in. Eventually I started working for her. I waited tables, tended the bar . . . for a while, I could even play bouncer. She was a great gal." For a moment Lilith couldn't speak. She had a thousand strange unfamiliar emotions surging through her that she didn't understand and she didn't know where it was coming from or how to stop it.

"So what happened?" Eli asked. He had never really paid any attention to the man or his ministry, but he knew enough. Everyone knew him whether they tuned in to his program or not. To millions of people, this man was the face of charity, Christianity and the voice of God himself. So beloved a figure was he that the media had long ago bestowed on him the moniker 'Preacher-man' as though he were still the humble traveling missionary.

"About six months ago this man entered our lives and destroyed everything." Lilith continued. "I honestly had no idea who he was that first night he came into the bar. If Millie knew, then she never told me. All I knew was that there was a man sitting at one of the tables that needed to be waited on." Lilith could still recall that first encounter. She had guessed him to be in his sixties with wavy, slicked back greying dark hair. His eyes were black, sharp and seemed to notice her every movement. He always had a smug half-smile that he couldn't hide in his almost solid grey beard and mustache. He was polite as she served him his drink and the two chatted back and forth. "Having a customer flirt with me isn't so unusual, but I never let it go too far. Drunks don't really impress me and they usually make terrible lovers.

"He introduced himself by telling me his name was Levi and that I was so beautiful that I made him forget his pick-up line." The demoness opened her eyes and looked at Eli with a half-hearted smirk that only lasted a few seconds. "Corny, right? I can't recall him drinking much. He usually just nursed a beer and tried to flirt with me. Most of the guys that walked in the place made passes at me, but something about him was different. Just the way he looked at me made my skin crawl. He tried to ask me out and I politely turned him down and thought that would be the end of it, but it wasn't. After that, he started showing up nearly every night and he always sat at one of my tables so I'd have to wait on him." She furrowed her brow as another recollection came to mind. "Oh, Pretty Woman', he always played 'Oh, Pretty Woman' on the jukebox when he came in. I used to like that song . . ." She shook her mind of the memory then continued her story. "Anyway, he always complimented me, flirted, brought me gifts and continuously asked me to dine with him. I refused his gifts and advances. Millie finally banned him from the bar when he refused to take no for an answer and his hands began to get a little too 'friendly'. I thought it was over."

"Obviously it wasn't," Eli said.

"No. The next day we were unexpectedly visited by liquor control and then an agent of the IRS. It was made clear that Millie's bar was to remain closed while each agency conducted a thorough investigation into possible underage drinking allegations and fraudulent bookkeeping. She also started getting traffic tickets and citations for everything. Low tire pressure, not turning the wheels correctly when parking on a hill, having a brake light out . . . all sorts of stupid reasons. Funny thing, the light was intact and worked fine when she left for the bank that day. While Millie was dealing with them, my phone started to ring. It was him. He told me that he could make all of this stop if I would just agree to meet him for dinner at a high-end restaurant known as Prince Prospero's. I knew Millie was planning on visiting her daughter that weekend and I wanted to put an end to her troubles so I agreed.

"The day I was supposed to meet him I was sitting on the floor of the living room flipping through TV channels looking for a distraction. Suddenly there he was standing behind an elegant pulpit preaching on the deadly sin of hypocrisy. That's when I found out that Levi was actually Levi Sethos, the head of the world-famous Jambres Ministry and its elite group of church members known as The Elymas Club. For a hefty tithe, you too can join, but the check better not bounce and cash is always king. I would never have guessed that an insect such as him could be on television every Sunday morning and have millions of followers all over the country. After that, I started researching him on the internet and quickly learned all I could, including his nickname 'Preacher-man'.

"That night I confronted him about his identity and everything I knew, but he didn't care." Lilith paused for a moment as the memory of their conversation once again played itself in her memory. The sound of utensils on plates, bottles of wine being opened and the way Levi chewed his food came back in vivid detail. Taking a breath she continued again, trying to hide the pain and misery she felt. "He didn't even try to deny who he was. He smiled at the recognition. He explained that sometimes he liked to visit places like Millie's incognito so he could get away from the pressures of his ministry. He went on to tell me that he had once had a vision where God showed him the woman that was intended for him and that the face he saw was mine." She stopped her story again and gave a slightly bitter laugh at the very idea, but in her heart it wasn't funny at all. Eli wasn't laughing. He was watching her eyes and her face and seeing how difficult this was for her. After a few moments she brushed her hair back from her face and continued again. "Of course, he was in no position to get a divorce at this time, but that didn't mean I couldn't be his mistress. The arrangement was simple enough, he would support me and set me up in a comfortable apartment where we could meet and be together. Visions from God . . . can you imagine anything so ridiculous? I declined his offer and told him in no uncertain terms to stay away from me."

"Which of course he never did," Eli added.

"True. He did keep his word and called off liquor control and the IRS, but he did not stay away," Lilith answered bitterly. "Things actually got worse. After closing time I would go out to the dumpsters and sometimes he would be there waiting for me." Lili's eyes stared off into space as she pictured him standing there in the shadows. "The first time I had not noticed him standing there in the dark until he grabbed me and tried to back me up against the wall. I hit him with the bag of trash before running back inside. After that, the phone calls started." She closed her eyes, reliving the endless sound of phones ringing endlessly and his voice always on the other end. "I tried blocking the number, but then it would change. I got a new phone, but he still somehow found it out. Letters, cards, gifts and inappropriate photographs started coming in the mail. Millie and I switched to a PO Box but it was only a short temporary fix." Squeezing her eyes shut as tightly as possible, the demoness continued to talk mechanically. She wanted to get the rest of the story out as quickly as possible and while burying as much of the pain as possible. "I tried to get a restraining order, but he's friends with every judge and politician you can name.

"One time Millie and I came home and discovered the place had been broken into. It was crazy because nothing was gone except a photograph of me taken at Roaring River State Park. I remember the trip because Millie and her son couldn't believe that I had never gone fishing before. I didn't catch anything but it was fun just the same." For a moment she stopped and pictured that wonderful old woman, then after taking a deep breath, she continued. "Millie was a wonderful woman. Her only mistake was allowing me in her life and thinking she could protect me.

"What happened?"

"She got her belly full of his bullshit," Lilith explained. "The Preacher-man showed up outside the bar after closing a couple of weeks ago. I had gone to drop the money off at the night deposit at the bank. Tired of his harassment and wanting to protect me, she argued with him in the back alley and he shot her. When I returned I found her slumped against the building just barely alive. She died just as the sun was beginning to rise the next morning. I gave the police a copy of the security footage from the bar that clearly showed that bastard firing the gun, but I made damn sure to save the original for myself. Turns out it was a wise decision."

"I don't remember seeing any mention of it in the news."

"Of course not. He made it go away," she growled. "I fully expected to see all sorts of scandalous headlines over it, but nothing happened. When I called the police station and asked the detective for the status of the case, he said that the investigation was still on-going, but there was little they could do without evidence as to who the perpetrator was. It seemed that the Preacher-man had worked his magic and made it all vanish. I didn't know what else to do so I decided it was time for me to leave Springfield. I threw my phone into the nearest garbage can, packed a few things and started walking. I made it as far as the fairgrounds and realized I was being followed so I ran inside hoping to escape them. The rest you know."

Lilith finished her story just as they were pulling into the driveway of Eli's home. He let her out at the door then went and parked the car in the garage. Now that he knew everything, there was an awful lot to consider and he wasn't exactly sure what to do. The Preacher-man had the power to destroy everything he had worked so hard to build, but he also couldn't stand idly by and let the bastard destroy Lilith either. It almost felt like a no-win situation, but in the end, he knew what was right and would do it.

Joining her on the porch he found Lili standing perfectly still, her shoulders were slumped and her normally good posture deeply curved. In one hand she was holding an envelope and papers, while the other covered her face in a futile attempt to block out the reality around her. He took the papers from her and looked at them. The first was a photograph with a time and date stamp from the night before and showed her holding him and the two of them seemingly kissing. Obviously, it was taken from outside during that brief misunderstanding. The second piece of paper only had a quote from an Oscar Wilde book.

'Dance for me, Salomé, I beseech you. If you dance for me you may ask of me what you will, and I will give it to you, even unto the half of my kingdom.'

"It was taped to your door. He knows where you live. Of course he does, he finds out everything," she commented as Eli opened the door. "I have to go," she muttered to herself as she stepped into the living room. "I just need to get my things and go. Surely he wouldn't search the whole country for me."

"Let's see, you don't actually own a car, you have maybe two thousand dollars, no assets or jewelry to sell. Gas prices are deplorable and a hotel room is a minimum of a hundred dollars a night (sometimes less if you have no standards) and then there is always food. You can't afford to buy a car so you'll have to rent and as we discussed earlier today, he'll find a way to stop that from happening. Since he has you followed he'll know what rental company you use and what car you'll get, that's if he doesn't sabotage your ability to rent. If by some chance you do get a vehicle, how far do you really think you'll get?" He was right and she knew it. Her heart sank and she wondered if it was possible to feel any more defeated.

"I should just give him what he wants," Lili sighed. "If he lives to be a hundred, it'll still barely be a blip in my span of years."

"Well that's a hideous image," Eli observed, ignoring the more eccentric part of her statement and tossing the note and photo onto the couch. Forgoing customs and manners, Lili ran into the kitchen and came back with a glass of bourbon in one hand and the bottle in the other. In a matter of seconds, she drained her glass and poured another. All she wanted was to drown the emotional pain she was in. While he understood her wanting a stiff drink, Eli really didn't want to see her kill herself with alcohol. The Preacher-man wasn't worth that. Of course, after what she had said, he was tempted to have a drink too. The image of Levi Sethos, a man in his sixties, having sex with anyone was sickening and he wished he could scrub it from his brain permanently. "I should think you would have set yourself at a much higher value than that. He murdered your friend, surely you're not going to reward him."

"What am I supposed to do? I can't just stand around waiting for him to pounce or stand by and watch everything you . . ." she stopped, suddenly realizing the consequences were more dire for Eli than they were for her. "I don't want anyone else hurt."

"Then stand your ground." He took the bottle away from her and moved it to the other side of the room. "Arm yourself if you have to. If you're not comfortable with that then try talking to a lawyer or finding yourself an honest cop. They do exist, you know. The Preacher-man's reach doesn't extend everywhere." Lilith didn't look at Eli as she swallowed the amber liquid, the bite of oak and charcoal on her tongue.

"Oh yes, it does. That bastard has his hooks in everything." She started towards the bottle, but Eli snatched it away and put it back in the kitchen. "I can't really trust anyone because supposed friends and employees readily gave out my personal information for money. He's always watching me. I feel those dark, penetrating eyes on me constantly. I won't carry a phone anymore because each time it rings I know it's him. Do you know why he sent me that photograph?" she fumed, pointing to the picture on the couch as he came back into the room. "It was to show me how easily he can find me. A reminder that I can't escape him. The restaurant flyer I was handed at the airport was to let me know he had done it all. Levi Sethos, the great pious minister. I am permitted to move only at his 'by your leave' or not at all." Elijah couldn't speak. He had known this woman for only a short while, but he had noticed that she carried a strength about her that made her seem unbreakable, until now. "I have been trying to pretend that I'm the same person that I've always been, but I am not. I'm weak and powerless. After Millie died I stayed locked inside her home because I was too afraid to step outside. I was even too scared to go to her funeral. I finally had to force myself to leave her home because the paranoia was becoming too much. If it had not been for you I don't know what I would have done or where I would have gone." She looked down at the tarnished ring she wore and thought about how it mirrored her reality. "Useless. We're both utterly useless." Sadly she looked up at Eli. "I was stupid enough to believe that this was one place he couldn't reach me."

"He can't reach you here." He assured her, but to her, it was hollow and empty. "Now, tomorrow we'll take this picture and letter and go to the police . . ."

"The police?" Lili was in no mood for protocol and human laws, she wanted him to pay . . . to suffer. "He made a murder disappear. A MURDER!" For a moment all her emotions overrode her judgment, spilling into her words. "You're as useless as all the other humans, or perhaps you're working for him. Is that it? How many times have you called the Preacher-man and told him my whereabouts?" At the implication, Elijah's jaw set and his brown eyes became dark and more intense. "It would certainly explain why his little rats can sneak through your home and you don't care."

"Do you honestly think I would work for a piece of shit like that?"

"I don't know . . . maybe. I don't know what you would do," she charged.

"Watch yourself, Lilith."

"Or what? Is this where I'm supposed to be afraid of you? What can you possibly do to me? Throw me out . . . hurt me? Do you imagine you can consign me to a worse hell than the one I am already in?!" With all her strength she threw her empty glass. Eli ducked causing it to narrowly miss him and smash on the wall behind him.

"You're obviously beyond reason. If you want to speak sense then fine, otherwise we're done here." He walked over to the front door and opened it wide for her. "If you have serious doubts about me, then by all means go. See how far you'll get before the Preacher-man finds you again." Coldly he turned and started towards the stairs, leaving her to ponder the situation. Realizing her mistake and scared, she ran over and caught hold of him before he had made it more than a couple of steps.

"Y-you're not leaving me?" Her brilliant green eyes were wide in fear and disbelief.

"I am not a jailer and this house is not a prison. You obviously think I can't help you, so there's the door." Instantly she threw her arms around him and began to plead with him.

"I don't doubt you, Eli." She put her forehead against his chest and tried to push away the hopelessness she felt. "I doubt myself." Tears welled up in her eyes then rolled down her cheeks. Lilith reached up and touched them astonished at the sight. She couldn't recall ever crying before. "Tears . . ." she whispered. She looked at the droplets on her fingers then once more touched her cheek, feeling them flow freely. "I've never cried before."

"Everyone cries."

"Not me. I'm . . . I'm just so angry at the Preacher-man for all he's done and continues to do . . . and it never ends." Eli took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped the tears from her face. "You can't imagine how tired I am. Every time I find a moment of peace he destroys it. I'm exhausted from the constant battle and there is no one I can turn to." Gently Elijah put his arms around her and held her.

"Well, now you have at least one person in your corner and that's a lot different than having no one." Gently he brought her face up to look at him. "I will not let anything happen to you," he vowed. Eli softly pushed the hair from her face and looked at her. What a peculiar woman this was and yet he felt more connected to her in one day then he had to Ruby after all the months they had lived together. Lili was wild and untamed and he would be a liar if said he wasn't attracted to her. Holding her in his arms felt strangely natural, as though she was meant to be there. The scent of her hair teased him and brought back the memory of how her lips felt against his when she kissed him at the fair.