The Crimson Z

by Robert Cloud, Lee Rush, Richard Savage

  "It was a dead child that no mother had claimed and had it been living Lilith would have claimed it as her own. Had it been living Lilith may have repented and been a very different woman as she watched that child grow. However as she stood upon the ground wiping the soil from her hands and looking down upon the little grave she began to hate all men. Not mankind, just men.

  "It was on that night that Lilith swore to never have a male lover, and whether she was in male form or female form until she met me she kept that oath. It was also on that night that Lilith swore to never kill a female, and until she felt jealousy over a woman's attention to me that oath too she never broke.

  Zachariah wiped away the tears and added, “Yet there is still one more major event in Lilith's history that must be told before I tell you of our meeting."

  * * * *

  For many years Lilith watched the encampment and took care of the women. If any male so much as looked like he might cause harm to a woman Lilith would fly over the camp at night and shriek out her warning. She did not attack the men of that camp as she wanted the camp to gain men so she could stop watching it, but if a man did harm a woman they would find his blood drained body lying near the camp the next day as a warning to the next man that might think he could get away with it.

  As far as feeding upon men, Lilith found the blood of this species of men far more filling and satisfying than anything else she had tried so when she flew she would hunt far and wide searching for other camps of men. She even came across another race of men that were closer to the race of Adam but still were not of Adam's line. This species had less hair than the cavemen did and they walked more erect and Lilith liked their blood better. Like she had done with the cavemen she drained all the Life's fluids from one of the males just in case she ever needed to enter into their numbers and pretend to be one of them, but she could also tell it weakened her so she did not drain more than the one. Each time she was weakened her speed and strength when she was Lilith was less and she was afraid that some day she may be as she was in the Garden with no added strength or dexterity.

  After about thirty passings of the seasons the encampment had completely recovered from the devastation she had done upon the male portion of the camp and she was able to leave them to themselves. She however stayed in her cavern and began to build upon it. Digging tunnels deeper into the earth in portions and adding stone huts above ground at others. This gave her additional places to sit and watch as time passed.

  Lilith studied her gifts and the abilities that they had given her. She learned that there were other things she could do as well. She learned that with the right concentration she could call upon some of those that she had drained all the fluids of. She could call upon the wolves, and cave bears, and she could call upon the Neanderthals at will. The hairless men as she called them were harder, some she could call and control, others she could not even touch their minds.

  She also learned that when she shifted from one form to the other all wounds she took in her animal form would heal completely, and in no form could she be killed. In a battle with a different species of bear that occurred while she was a wolf, the bear had actually torn her head off. She was certain she was going to die. Instead she felt tendrils form of her own blood and they became like iron bond and pulled her head back to her body. She switched forms to Lilith immediately and was healed.

  In her Lilith body she had killed the bear. She had not even bothered changing to her monstrous self for her strength was that great and she healed quicker as Lilith. In anger at having her head torn off she had not even thought of switching to the monster form. She just charged the bear and with fangs that suddenly grew within her mouth she bit into its throat and drank its blood.

  It was the first time she had drank the blood of any creature while still in her Lilith form. As she sat up she felt the sharp fangs in her mouth and laughed. What a marvel she was, even to herself. This curse was to her more a blessing than a curse. She did miss the sun, and she missed talking, but the life she had was a miracle.

  Chapter Five

  Over seven hundred years passed and Lilith learned more about the creature she had become with each passing year. Then one night while she was out with her two wolfen companions strolling along in her Lilith form she happened to hear something new. A voice. Someone was singing.

  Lilith was clothed but only because she had gotten tired of the little barbs and thorns tearing at her. Yes she healed quickly but each thorn and barb still hurt. Yet even had she not been Lilith had no shame, she would have walked up to the man naked or clothed. To her it did not matter. However, her being clothed was a good thing for had she been naked this man would have turned and not spoken to her out of embarrassment.

  As she approached him she saw he was pulling behind him a strange contraption, it was some kind of wood item upon two round items that were revolving as he pulled it and on the wood item sat a little boy and a little girl. They were listening to him sing.

  He saw her coming close and saw the two wolves beside her and Lilith heard him say softly to the two little children, “Quiet, Seth and Tabitha, they seem to be with her, so they should not hurt you."

  The two children acted afraid and wrapped their arms around each other. Then he turned towards Lilith and said, “My children have only seen wild wolves, or the damage the wolves have done to livestock. They are afraid your wolves will attack us."

  Lilith looked down and with her hand motioned to the wolves and they bounded off back into the woods.

  The man smiled at her and said, “Thank you.” Then he turned to the children and added, “See children, they are tamed, they are like her pets. So you do not need to be afraid."

  Lilith interjected, “No, not my pets, more like my friends."

  He turned and smiled, “Well that is even better."

  He sat the long poles of the wooden thing onto the ground and helped his children out of it, then turned to her before looking up at the sky, “I have traveled late this night and should be resting, would you care to join us for our evening meal and drink."

  "I will sit with you, if you do not mind, but I have fed."

  Something about the man's smile kept touching Lilith, it was very genuine and it looked very familiar. He also had a scent about him that was familiar and it did not take her long to place it. She could smell Adam upon him. As he sat down and turned to her he said, “My name is Adam, I am descended from Cain, son of Adam."

  It took everything Lilith had to keep from reaching out and ripping the man's throat out. Adam, the very name of the man that had caused her to be cursed filled her with such vehemence that she barely controlled her rage. She had to turn her head while the fire in her eyes dissipated for she had already learned her eyes glowed red when she was angry.

  The only thing that staved off her anger was that she remembered the little girl long ago and she had seen the faces of the two children as they sat beside their father. She would not make that little girl fear her or see her father killed before her eyes no matter how much his name ripped into her soul.

  Once she regained her temper she asked, “Do you speak of the Adam from the Garden?"

  "Yes, of course,” he said, as if she should have known that already then he added, “oh wait, you are dark-haired and your skin is dark. You are probably further away from the bloodline than I am. Maybe you do not know the whole story."

  She wanted to tell him who she was, that she was not further away, that she was not descended of anyone, that God had made her Himself. Instead she held that within her and said, “No, I do not know the story, would you mind telling me what happened?"

  He began telling the story. There was no mention of Lilith in his tale of the Garden, only of Adam and his second wife Eve, and how Eve had been tempted by a serpent and how Adam and Eve had both been cast out of the Garden after eating of the Tree of Knowledge.

  Lilith had stopped him and asked him about the Tree of Life. He was surprised to see she knew some
things but he added that no, God had banished them before they could eat of that tree. Lilith had had to force the smile from her lips so as to not give her delight in that part of the tale away.

  Then he had gone on about how Cain had slain Abel and that his family was of the descendents of Cain. He told Cain's side from that point and said he was sorry but knew nothing more of Adam other than he and Eve did have more children.

  Through the night he talked, about an hour before the sun was to rise Lilith thanked him for his time and asked him where he was headed. He informed her that he and his entire band was headed this way for new farmland. He had just broken ahead of the rest to get a good spot for he had lost his wife and wanted to make certain he had a good spot for a dowry for his daughter and a place for his son to inherit.

  She then asked about the rest of his people. He told her that there were well over twelve score more of his kind. She looked at him funny when he said the word “score” and he explained by showing all the fingers of his hands twice. Lilith smiled and then bid him farewell.

  If it had not been for those two children that man would not have survived the night, but Lilith had a weak spot and that was young children. She let him and his little ones travel on safely, even sending a mental message on ahead to the wolves and cave bears to guard their path.

  However when the main band came through they were not so lucky.

  Lilith sat in the hills along the side of the moonlit road and watched as the wagons rolled by. One by one they passed. It was unusual for a caravan to travel past the setting of the sun, yet this one had not found a good place to make camp. She watched as men walked by, some leading mules with women on them, some pulling carts and some guiding wagons. The entire time Lilith kept her eyes open for the men that were alone. When she spied one she would wait until they passed a stand of trees and there she would be luring them with her body and promises of the delights that she would give them.

  Often when she went hunting it would take her a while to find someone out at night alone or a caravan traveling at night. However when she did she would try a different strategy to lure her victim.

  Sometimes she would play the demure girl bathing in a pond and pretend that she did not know she was being seen but let them glimpse just enough of her nakedness to entice them to want to see more.

  Some of the men that saw her ignored her, then finally one saw her and he was enraptured by what he saw. She could see the lust in his eyes. As he watched she began to rub her hands over her body, teasing him even more. Slowly the man turned his mule away from the caravan and toward the woods. He dropped off the back of his mule and tied it to a branch on a tree, then he looked about and made certain he was unseen. As he did so he also slipped a knife out from his belt. Lilith saw the blade and knew that in his mind his intent was that he would have her even if she changed her mind. She had already made up her mind a long time ago, no man was going to enter her ever again, but him lifting his blade had sealed him to a deeper fate. She would drain him of all his life. There would be nothing left of him for anyone to recognize.

  He slipped into the woods and Lilith stood there with open arms, as if she awaited him as her lover. He did not even bother to undress, it was like he was going to let her do everything, well she would, just not the way he wanted her to. He slipped into her arms and she wrapped her arms around him. Her lips met his, her eyes met his, then she lowered her lips to his neck and as her mouth opened and her teeth sank in she expected him to scream out but he did not. Her mind entered his and she knew that the moment her lips had touched his that he had become hers. Lilith drank, and while she drank she read his thoughts, she read everything he had ever done. Every evil deed, and what few good, she learned the language of his people and then as she drained the final fluids of his life she felt a new surge. It was like nothing she had ever felt before.

  Similar in many ways to the orgasm that had swept over her when Adam had been within her, yet greater; she did indeed orgasm, as one wave after another swept over her. As the final fluids of the descendent of Adam filled her she knew what it meant to truly feed upon the life fluids of the sons of God. She felt stronger, renewed, refreshed. She had not regained all the strength she had lost after draining the Life's fluids from the beings that were not sons of God but she was no longer hungry, and she felt alive.

  She looked down at the pile of bones at her feet and as she did she also noticed that her thighs were drenched with her own cum. She lifted her head to the heavens and laughed then with an instantaneous shift that was completely painless she shifted to the winged beast and lifted into the air.

  Lilith had learned that drinking the Life's Fluids from the sons of god was the best thing for her to do, however, the next night she also learned that she could not do it on a daily basis for she was wakened by the sounds of dogs running through the woods and men following them. There was a hunt for a monster that could turn a man to bones. Unlike the other species that did not pay attention to their dead, the sons of God paid a great deal of attention to those that died around them.

  The home that had been Lilith's for over seven hundred years was no longer safe and she had to move for she had killed too close to her home. She was outraged, but she had also learned a valuable lesson. They did not know whose bones it was that were found only that it was one of theirs so with her abilities she took his place and hid amongst his people for a few days, but she had to be careful for she could only be with them at night. During the day she had to seek shelter far away from the group so she would tell them that she was going to look for the monster. Sometimes they would want to send others but she would refuse and say it was best she did it alone. Then she would hide for the day and return at night. In this way she was able to stay hidden and follow the group for several months. The feeding she'd had satisfied her well enough that she did not hunger during that time though there were many times that her rage towards men had almost risen up to the point it had almost gotten the better of her. Had she not needed to find a new permanent home she would have ripped many men's throats out.

  When the band Lilith was with met with another band it was time Lilith switched groups and her hunger was rising again. So she fed.

  * * * *

  Zachariah smiled to Melanie and then sighed, “For hundreds of years Lilith managed to keep hidden this way. She became wise, feeding on the wealthier and greediest of those she traveled with, and in doing so began to accumulate a vast fortune. She played two roles, by taking on the persona of the man she killed, and then pretending that she Lilith was that man's mistress, lover or wife and in this way for well over a thousand years she stayed well fed and well hidden. At least until the Flood, but that part of the story is not significant to our tale, so I am going to jump forward now to what is important to our tale. That is the time when Lilith and I met."

  * * * *

  After the flood things were much harder. For one she had to return to feeding off of beasts and even these were scarce. There were long periods that she would have to enter a state similar to hibernation to give the animals a chance to repopulate the world. It was a great struggle for her, and during this time she again drained the life from another beast, for her hunger was so great and her mind was in a state of delirium that she was unable to stop herself. She drained the life's fluids from a large bat that had happened to fly close enough to her sleeping form that her body's own instincts reached out and plucked it from the air as it flew by her.

  Lilith wavered in and out of her near coma state for over twelve hundred years then one night she awoke. She was so weak she could barely move at all. Her mind told her that if she did not eat soon that she would die. She pushed her way through the layers of branches and leaves that had covered the entrance to the hole she had once crawled into. Lilith even tried to reach out with her mind to the animals that she knew she could talk to but she could not touch their minds, she was too close to being truly dead. Something told her that she would not die, but she did
not want to lie for eternity beneath the ground waiting for something to get close enough to her that she could feed and gain enough strength to climb out.

  She tried to stand but only fell back onto her face. With what little strength she had she managed to get to her hands and knees and forced herself to crawl, but she did not get far before blackness overtook her and she knew nothing.

  Part Two

  Zachariah

  Chapter Six

  The moon was bright in the night sky and though it lit Zachariah's way it also threatened to reveal his chosen hiding places as he skirted from one to the next. As he had done for over three weeks he had snuck out of his father's house and followed this path, but it was not his father he was trying to hide from. Neither was it a secret clandestine affair that he was running off to. Zachariah was simply trying to get his chores done before being spied by his peers within the camp. For if they spotted him they would challenge him to some silly form of competition to prove that one of them was stronger, faster, or braver than he was.

  It had been that way since the first day he had walked out of his father's door and met them. It was as if he had been glowing and suddenly he became the center of attention. The ones that had been there before him decided they had to beat him in order to win back their rightful spot. He had only been a toddler then and did not even seek anything but to have fun and be friends with all the children he was meeting for the first time.

  His mother had kept him away from them before. She had lost her first child in a miscarriage and was overly careful of Zachariah but she had finally decided she had to let him be a child and discover the world. Still she had kept a close eye on him through the entire celebration.

  No sooner than she had set him down than he had seen the other children about his size and had toddled over to play with them. From that very moment the girls and boys began to play with him and laugh. Then one of them pushed through them and began pulling upon the toy that Zachariah was holding. He screamed, “Mine!"