by Tony C. Skye
“It’s a game. The character wears stuff kinda like this.”
“Oh. Like a dress up game.”
Julianna drapes the clothes over her left arm.
“Sure,” Julianna nods with her continuing awkward smile, “Like a dress up game.”
Julianna turns and sits Indian-style in the sand. She places her new clothes onto her lap and peers out into the earth-line just beyond. Lilith takes a seat next to her on her left side.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Julianna speaks, “But I don’t understand the need for clothes here. I thought you were into the whole naked is better thing?”
Lilith places her right arm around Julianna’s shoulder. She points out towards the earth-line with her left hand.
“Not all of them are nice,” Lilith explains, “Most of them are not. Being beautiful and naked would not be wise. Not on the other side of the line.”
Lilith pats the clothes held within the young woman’s lap, “These will help disguise you from some of them, if you so wish. The stronger ones will know you on sight no matter what you wear. It is only damage control. Your safety cannot be guaranteed.”
Julianna nods. The images within her eye’s sight have removed her smile.
“I guess I don’t understand the naked and ashamed part,” Julianna informs, “You said they walk around naked and ashamed. But I see clothes on most of them.”
Lilith uses her left hand and points towards a spirit-soul wearing a black suit.
“His clothes are a recreation of his last memory before his physical death. He can never make new ones. It is an image, child. The clothes are not really there. He, either, has not yet learned how to remove them, or he does not want them gone. But he can never change into new ones. His punishment forbids it.”
“Naked and ashamed,” Julianna answers.
“Yes.”
Julianna looks down at her gift.
“So these are not real?”, Julianna attempts to understand the confusing logic of this realm, “Because I can sure feel them.”
Lilith smiles.
“Close your eyes.”
Julianna obliges the woman by doing as instructed.
“Now,” Lilith continues, “Imagine your strange dress is gone from your physical body.”
Julianna nods.
“Open your eyes.”
Julianna opens her eyes and looks at her body. She looks over at Lilith with a warning glare.
“Ha-cute.”
“Those were never there,” Lilith informs, “Not in this realm.”
“How do I get them back?”
Lilith laughs. She removes her arm from Julianna’s shoulder and stands up – her eyes glance towards the young woman’s lap.
“You have clothes,” Lilith amuses, “Wear them.”
“I didn’t need them a minute ago,” Julianna accusingly mocks while slipping her pants on. She stands up and finishes pulling them up around her waist. To her, they feel as though they were hand-tailored by the most impressive of shops.
“You don’t need to wear…”
“Stop it,” Julianna teasingly orders before slipping the hoodie over her head.
Lilith pauses. A smile of adoration crosses over her full lips as she watches the young woman pull her hoodie down to cover her belly. Lilith, slowly, turns her attention back towards the earth-line. Julianna follows her lead. The younger woman locks her gaze upon three spirit-souls in particular. One of them has a face severely burned by fire. Another looks as if she were cut all over by a knife. And the third one is completely missing the bottom part of his face. He doesn’t even have a mouth.
“Why are some of them so scary looking?”
Lilith looks at Julianna and follows her stare.
“Naked and ashamed,” Lilith answers flatly.
“They can’t change their look at all?”
“Hmm. That is a complicated question, child.”
“Is there an answer?”, Julianna pushes.
“Some of them do not look so scary whenever they first come to this place. There are those who have learned how to harness their new ability and appear this way because they are vengeful and cruel. There are some who look like this because their mind recreates an event like your paper dress.”
Julianna looks at Lilith; whenever, the woman goes silent. Lilith points off into the distance. Julianna follows her right pointer finger and watches. A tall creature with snarling fangs bites into a woman’s face. The woman screams right before her throat is ripped out. Unmercifully, the woman does not die. Julianna looks away.
“The fallen ones make them look this way, too,” Lilith says somberly.
“Demons,” Julianna answers while mustering enough courage to look back at the horrifying scene.
“Yes,” Lilith answers – her smoky voice barely audible. The woman turns away from the earth-line and begins walking towards her rock. Julianna shakes her head as she rips her stare away from the ongoing onslaught of torture. She turns and begins following Lilith. When Lilith finds her seat upon the rock, Julianna stops her approach and watches with curious eyes.
“Hell sucks,” Julianna states as a matter of fact.
“Hell?”, Lilith mocks. She laughs.
“What’s so funny?”
Lilith calms and waves her left hand towards the earth-line, “That is not hell, child. That is only a playground – the outskirts of an intricate prison system.”
Lilith narrows her brows, “The deeper and closer you get to headquarters, the worse it becomes. Your imagination can never create the realities of hell. Not your artists. And not your moving pictures either.”
Julianna swallows nervously.
“I thought everyone…”
“It is all hell,” Lilith interrupts while moving her gaze towards the earth-line, “The part you can see now is the nice area.”
Lilith shifts her eyes and looks upon Julianna. The young woman appears overly anxious.
“It is like your plane stations,” Lilith explains, “Spirit-souls may linger at the depot for a while, but sooner or later, they all must cash in their tickets.”
Julianna glances over. She sees a demon staring in her direction. The large beast smiles a sharp-fang grin at her. It looks as though there might be a piece of meat hanging from one of its teeth. Chill bumps quickly rise upon Julianna’s arms.
“Don’t worry about him,” Lilith notices the scene in which Julianna’s eyes are beholding, “He must wait for you – master’s orders and all.”
Julianna glares at Lilith.
“That’s comforting.”
“You want comfort,” Lilith counters, “Then enjoy your few years left to you. Do not be so quick to come here, child. Not in your permanent form. If you do, there is no leaving like you can now. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Lilith,” Julianna agrees, “Of course I do.”
“Is that a young woman’s rebellious mouth I hear again?”
Julianna realizes Lilith doesn’t seem all that amused. She decides to leave Lilith’s challenge alone. Julianna turns her attention back to the watchful creature. The beast snarls.
“Stop looking at me!”, Julianna turns her frustrations onto the beast.
Lilith jerks from the unexpected outburst. She looks out into the earth-line and sees that Julianna has gathered more attention from its occupants.
“Stop it!”, Julianna yells again.
“Shush, child,” Lilith warns with a whispering urgency.
Julianna stares at the many faces now looking at her. Again, she lashes out verbally.
“Quit looking at me! Stop it! Stop it now! All of you…”
Julianna pauses as she notices something familiar. A beautiful female is licking her lips seductively at her. The blond runs her right hand over her breast and kisses the air with puckered lips.
“You nasty whore,” Julianna curses. She looks over at Lilith and ignores the fact that the seasoned warrior seems a bit askew.
“My punishment can be no worse,
right?”
“Right, but…”
Julianna waves Lilith off by returning her attention upon the seductive female swaying within the crowd. She marches towards the earth-line and stops just short of its boundary.
“Is this what you want?!”, Julianna yells accusingly.
Lilith’s eyes widen as she watches the young woman strip her clothes off. Julianna, then, drops to her hands and knees and turns her buttocks towards the earth-line.
“You want to lick it, bitch?!”, Julianna yells.
Lilith watches curiously as the vile female creature seems quite confused by the unusual invitation.
Julianna repositions her body so she can view the demon better.
“Dranestan!”, Julianna yells, “Can you hear me?! Dranestan! You answer me you piece of…”
Lilith’s body tenses as she sees a figure appear within the crowd.
“Stop it, child,” Lilith panics a whisper, “That is a captain. They abide by different rules.”
Julianna ignores the worrisome voice behind and to the left of her. She watches the tall male approach with no concern to those around him. He doesn’t seem to care that the crowd is doing its best to vacate the immediate area. Everyone that is, except the other demons. They all seem to be smiling with anticipation.
Julianna narrows her brows as the creature stops short of the earth-line. The angry captain looks down at the young woman planted on all fours. Lilith watches in shock as the creature’s expression turns into a slight smile.
“Are you Dranestan?”, Julianna questions with a much calmer voice. Her earlier confidence is a bit shaken with the close approximation of the demon. She can feel his power. He is much stronger here than when she experienced him inside of her.
The male nods, “I am.”
Julianna curiously looks upon the demon’s face. He looks like a pinup model with his pronounced chin, dark brown eyes, and black hair. He wears a suit as though he had just come from a business meeting.
“Not what you were expecting?”, the male questions with a deep, but gentle tone.
“Not really,” Julianna grins awkwardly, “You’re gorgeous. I mean…”
“Ha-ha-ha-heh-heh,” Dranestan laughs. Julianna notices the similarity within his amusement. But here, his laugh sounds normal. In her world, however, his laugh was haunting and creepy.
“Did you get into trouble?”, Julianna refers to passing him through her.
“No,” Dranestan answers, “I am not against my master. I was only having fun. I would have left when you tired. But you are much more resilient than I had anticipated.”
“Oh,” Julianna’s response is followed by another awkward grin.
“Why do you call me here?”, Dranestan questions, “And why do you present yourself to me like a dog?”
“Uh,” Julianna pauses before standing up. She looks down at the sand around her feet.
“I was going to taunt you,” she confesses with a tone of embarrassment.
Lilith nervously smiles as the captain rears back and laughs. Julianna, slowly, lifts her head up. She looks shyly at the cute man standing before her.
“Yeah - sorry about that,” Julianna apologizes.
The captain calms and studies the young woman for a few moments with his eyes. Julianna notices that he is not looking over her body, but is maintaining strict eye contact. In fact, it is his lack of lustfulness that has taken her off guard.
“I can see why my master likes you so much. Your heart rebels like ours.”
Julianna remains silent. She isn’t sure what she was exactly expecting, but this, is definitely, not it.
“I have much to do, Mother,” Dranestan gets to the point, “What is it that you need from me other than your wishful taunts?”
Julianna glances over to the female demon standing in the distance. Her brows narrow angrily as she looks back to Dranestan.
“You want her punished for being herself?”, Dranestan questions.
“How did you…?”
“You are linked to my master. I am one of his captains,” Dranestan answers plainly.
“Oh,” Julianna struggles to wrap her mind around such a concept.
“You will understand in time,” Dranestan explains, “But it is the same as you knew her upon sight.”
Julianna glances over at the female demon before returning her gaze to Dranestan.
“So this is the Mother’s desire?”, Dranestan pushes further, “To punish one of us for being true to ourselves?”
“No. Not for that,” Julianna counters, “I wouldn’t have cared if we had been alone. But we weren’t. That nasty bitch tried to masturbate me in front of my grams. I can’t allow stuff like that. It’s disgusting. And I won’t put up with it.”
“The human side of you,” Dranestan cryptically answers.
“Rules,” Julianna coldly defends her reasoning, “How can I allow your kind to freely pass through my body if I cannot trust you to be reasonable with such things?”
Dranestan’s impartial gaze implies his deep thoughts. A few seconds later, he closes his eyes. Julianna startles as the female demon suddenly appears at Dranestan’s right side. The captain reaches out and grabs the demon by her throat. He exhibits his enormous strength by picking her up from the ground. His arm is void of any movement as she kicks and yells out in a language unfamiliar to Julianna.
Dranestan answers the female’s ramblings with a swift punch to her face. Her eyes roll upwards as she falls limp within his grip. Dranestan speaks in his native tongue. In an instant, two more demons appear. The captain lets the subordinate go as the two males carry her off through the crowd. The captain turns his back to Julianna.
“Make sure you are clear about your rules, Mother,” Dranestan speaks while walking away. Julianna hears a hint of sadness within his statement.
“What’s going to happen to her?”
Dranestan pauses. He turns his head to the left, but doesn’t bother to look over his shoulder.
“She will stand before your unborn child’s father. Do not concern yourself with it. Just make your rules clear from now on.”
Julianna begins to say something, but Dranestan vanishes before her words can form on her lips. She stares blankly at the many faces within the crowd. The other demons that are within her view are no longer peering in her direction. But now, for some reason, it doesn’t seem all that important to her anymore.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” a smoky voice breaks quietly into Julianna’s thoughts. The young woman turns around and looks at Lilith.
“He was a lot cuter than I thought,” Julianna attempts to change the subject.
Lilith obliges her with a laugh.
Julianna looks to her right. A man watches her. He has been doing so since her first yelling outburst. Unlike the demons, however, this man has not stopped his watching of her.
“Hey you!”, Julianna yells at the rude man.
The man’s facial expression remains impartial to her apparent voicetress nature.
“Are you deaf?!”, Julianna yells again, “Or are you just stupid?!”
Lilith’s heart rate increases within her fear.
“He is one of His,” Lilith urgently informs Julianna.
The young woman briefly glares at Lilith, “I know that. The bastard glows like a sparkler.”
“He can cross the line,” Lilith urges Julianna to stop this madness at once.
“And do what?”, Julianna waves her right arm upward, “Send me to hell?”
Lilith pauses from a loss of words – something rarely achieved by any opponent.
“That’s what I thought,” Julianna proclaims as she turns her full attention back onto the angel. She points with her right index finger.
“Tell your rapist daddy that I am going to enjoy my life completely.”
Lilith covers her open mouth with her right hand. Even she wouldn’t say something like that to one of His blessed creatures. Yet, for one reason or another, this angel ma
kes no move to chastise the blasphemous woman before him. Instead, he watches with an unchanging look upon his face.
Julianna cups both breasts into her hands and shakes them violently, “Tell your boss that I will be everything He hates!”
She quickly points with her left arm towards the wall behind her.
“You tell Him that if I’m going to burn in his fire, then I am going to give Him a real reason to do it!”
Julianna lowers her arm and calms her voice.
“Did you get that? Or do I need to write it down for you?”
The angel remains silent and unmoving – his stare unwavering.
Julianna turns and begins walking towards Lilith.
“Let me put it to you another way, you dense moron.”
Lilith shakes her head desperately in an attempt to stop Julianna’s insanity. The young woman acts as if she is oblivious to Lilith’s non-verbal pleading. Instead, Julianna drops to her knees with both hands on Lilith’s legs. She yanks hard – separating them. Lilith, forcefully, pushes on the young woman’s forehead. Julianna stops and glares angrily.
“My turn,” Julianna demands coldly.
Lilith, reluctantly, removes her hand away. This isn’t exactly the most comfortable of positions to be placed in. She closes both eyes in hopes that it will make the situation easier to bear – her mind races in a thousand different directions.
* * *
“She’s awake,” a stranger’s voice speaks. Julianna squints against the bright light overhead.
“Where…am I?”, Julianna questions with a hoarse whisper. Her dry throat causes her to cough.
“Shh…”, Julianna hears another voice soothe while placing a hand on her forehead. She recognizes this voice. It is her grams.
“I’ll get her some water,” Frank’s voice announces quietly.
Julianna closes her eyes and slowly opens them once more. Her blurry vision dissipates while the faces in the room begin to take shape.
“Ms. Atwood,” a male’s voice gently penetrates through Julianna’s foggy mind, “I need to check your bandages. This means I will need to unstrap your arms. We’re not going to have a problem are we?”
“No,” Julianna answers with a raspy voice. She focuses in on the doctor standing to the left of her bed. He gives a nod. A nurse standing beside him begins unstrapping her left arm. Julianna looks to her right. Her grandmother is standing there with a comforting smile. A tear drops from Julianna’s right eye.
