“Hold on!” Tristin’s voice erupted into a panicked shout.
Christian stared at the phone, and then slowly brought it to his ear again.
“I do have some information for you,” Tristin said.
“Does that mean you’ve discovered whether Lilith is a succubus or not?” Christian didn’t know if he wanted an answer. Confirmation would mean leaving, and leaving meant he wouldn’t be able to see Lilith anymore. The thought of not seeing her again hurt, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
“No, I haven’t even had a chance to look into that,” Tristin admitted, causing Christian to sigh, though whether in relief or vexation was unknown, even to him. “The information I have is on the disappearance of those cops.”
“Disappearance of the cops? When did this happen?”
… He was met with several seconds of awkward silence.
“Christian.” Tristin’s voice was incredulous. “Are you telling me that you didn’t know several cops disappeared after investigating the site of your battle with the werewolf?”
Christian felt his face grow hot.
“You know that I neither watch nor read the news.”
“Right, I forgot. The only thing you’re interested in reading are those light novels of yours… Geek.”
Christian scowled at the phone.
“Anyway,” Tristin continued, “we have reason to believe that their disappearance was not because of mundane reasons.”
Christian sucked in a breath. He didn’t need to be a genius to know what Tristin meant.
“You’re saying there’s another monster in Seal Beach?”
“Pretty much. I haven’t been able to find out much. There are no bodies, no autopsy reports. Just about the only information that I’ve been able to get is that the disappearances I told you about earlier have all stopped.”
“So, basically, what you’re telling me is that we know the creature that’s been killing across the United States is here, but we don’t know what kind of creature it is.”
“Essentially.” Tristin at least had the decency to sound sheepish.
“Without knowing what I’m up against, there isn’t much that I can do.” Christian paused long enough to sigh. “I guess there’s nothing to it. I’ll stay alert on my end. You keep me up to date from yours.”
“Of course. You know that I would do anything for my best friend.”
Christian twitched.
“Whelp! Now that all this heavy stuff is out of the way, I want to wish you luck on your date. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! Actually, don’t do anything I would do either! That’ll get you into a lot of trouble with the boss lady! Hehehe, see ya!”
Christian’s eyes widened as the phone went dead. He stared at the object in his hand like it was a foreign entity that he’d never seen before, one thought plaguing his mind.
How did Tristin know about my date with Lilith?
***
Anticipation is a killer. There was nothing worse than being stuck waiting. Lilith was finding this out the hard way.
During her time at the preschool, Lilith had been unable to concentrate or focus on anything. Several times during class, she’d been forced out of her daydreaming by one of the children or by Janice, when the woman noticed that she wasn’t paying attention. It had actually gotten so bad that Janice had taken over for Lilith and delegated the task of grading the children’s artwork to her.
The mindlessness of the task did nothing to ease her anticipation, nor her anxiety. She had actually stopped paying attention to what she was grading and taken to tapping her index finger against the desk, hoping it would somehow help while away the time. It eventually became so bad that Janice had gotten annoyed and, after telling her to stop several times with no success, told her to go home early.
Not that arriving home early changed anything. It just meant that she would be waiting at home instead of at work. At least Maria was there to help her get ready for her date. The instant Lilith arrived home, her friend pushed her into a chair in front of the large vanity mirror in Maria's bedroom.
“You’ve got such beautiful hair.” Maria ran a brush through Lilith’s hair, the bristles gliding through silken locks without finding a single knot. “I’m so jealous. I wish my hair was this pretty.”
“I don’t see why you’re jealous.” Lilith resisted the urge to shake her head. “You turn more than few heads of your own. To be honest, I’m jealous of how athletic you are. You look so fit.”
“You could become just as fit as I am, if you wanted to. The only reason you’re not is because you don’t want to put in the effort.” Maria smiled when Lilith shrugged. “And besides, if you became as athletic as I am, that gorgeous figure of yours might disappear.”
“Sometimes I think that would be a blessing.” Lilith’s response put deserts to shame with its dryness.
“I bet you won’t be thinking that tonight,” Maria teased in a sing-song voice. When Lilith’s face became inflamed with red, Maria laughed in delight.
“Ugh, would you two please shut up,” Stacy moaned from within the closet. She emerged seconds later, decked out in full gothic regalia. “I really don’t want to hear you two going on like a couple of middle-grade schoolgirls. Also, your date’s gonna hate you if you keep doing that.”
Lilith tried not to glare at the younger girl. “Doing what?”
“That thing you do with your finger. It’s fucking annoying.”
Looking down, Lilith saw her right index finger tapping against her knee. Weird. She hadn’t even noticed.
Tilting her head back up, she frowned at the younger girl’s blazing-eyed reflection in the mirror. She didn’t know why, but ever since Christian had walked her home that first night, Stacy had become even more unpleasant. When not outright ignoring her, the goth was giving Lilith the death glare. It was, in all honesty, beginning to get on Lilith’s nerves, and was something that she didn’t need right now.
“Come on now.” Maria gave the goth an amiable smile, even as she artfully twisted Lilith’s hair into a style of her choice. “You shouldn’t be so grumpy all the time; it’ll give you wrinkles.”
“Whatever.” Stacy’s scowl grew even more prominent. “I’m out.”
“Have fun!” Maria called as Stacy stormed out of the room. The goth didn’t reply. Unless slamming the door shut with a loud bang! counted as replying.
“Is it just me, or is she even grumpier than usual?” asked Lilith.
“It’s just you.”
“… Right…”
***
Christian stood at the door to Lilith’s apartment. He was beginning to have second thoughts. He knew that he should knock on the door, knew that Lilith was waiting for his arrival. He had already agreed to this date, and all that was left to do was see it through to the end.
I shouldn’t be doing this.
And he shouldn’t. He and Lilith were getting too close. He was getting too attached. Executioners were never meant to fall in love.
I should just leave and pretend this never happened.
But he couldn’t turn back now, could he? Doing so would hurt Lilith, and he couldn’t stand the thought of hurting her. The notion churned his insides. He liked her, he enjoyed spending time with her, enjoyed reading with her, enjoyed holding long conversations with her. He just enjoyed being around her. It was far too late to turn back.
Christian knocked on the door.
“Just a minute!”
A blink. He recognized that voice. It was not Lilith. Maria, then. Lilith’s roommate, a woman who was far too pleased about his and Lilith’s relationship. Christian sometimes thought that Maria was happier about their relationship than Lilith herself.
The door opened. Maria stood in the doorway. Her ear-to-ear grin almost split her face in half. She eyed him once, traveling up, then down, then back up again. When her eyes landed on his, Christian saw how they twinkled like the star on top of a Christmas tree.
“Hello there,
handsome,” she purred. Christian almost twitched, but quickly mastered himself before he said something that he would regret later. This girl’s teasing personality reminded him so much of Tristin that it was almost reflex to snap at her.
“Evening,” Christian said.
“You don’t sound happy to see me.” Maria pouted. Christian almost rolled his eyes. Almost.
“It’s not that I am not pleased to see you. I’m merely… anxious, I suppose.”
“So even someone as cool and collected as you can feel nervous about something,” Maria observed with a casual mien. “How intriguing.”
This time Christian couldn’t quite contain his eye roll. “Is Lilith ready?”
“She will be in just a minute. Why don’t you come inside?”
Maria moved out of the way and beckoned him in. Christian stepped past her into the apartment. He had not actually been inside before, despite walking Lilith home every day since their first time out. While he wasn’t exactly sure what he expected the inside of Lilith’s residence to look like, he decided that this place was probably pretty standard for three girls living on their own.
Maria turned to face him. “Hold on just a second and let me get Lilith for you.”
“Thank you.”
Maria walked into a small hallway on his immediate right. Christian absently wiped a small trickle of sweat from his brow. He tried not to let his anxiety get the best of him.
While he waited for Lilith, he studied the room. Pale carpet shifted to white tiles. A couch, coffee table, and television sat in the living room, along with several plants. The kitchenette had a table, long, rectangular in shape. Nothing seemed out of place or eccentric. Christian could imagine three women living here quite easily.
The sound of a door opening and closing alerted Christian to someone entering the room. A soft voice spoke up a second later.
“Christian.”
Christian turned, his mouth open and prepared to greet Lilith… when he promptly forgot to breathe, as a creature so ethereally magnificent that she simply couldn’t be of this world appeared before him. Her long blond hair had been pulled up, each lock delicately twisted and secured in place by several pins, making the entire style look like an intricately woven tapestry. Several strands looked to have been left purposely lose to frame her face, directing all of his attention to her delicate features, to the light pink lips that were arched in a soft smile.
If it had been just her face that captivated him so, Christian might have been able to resist this angel’s beauty, despite his inexperience when it came to dealing with matters of the heart. However, the gown she had chosen for that night was almost as incredible as the one wearing it. Or maybe it was simply the young woman wearing it that made the dress look out of this world.
She wore a light blue chiffon dress that matched her eyes. There were no sleeves, just a simple strap that looped through the dress proper and went around her neck. A triangle-shaped cut-out appeared on her bust as the left strap crossed over to the right. It had a hemline that dipped low in the back and rose in the front, showing where the fabric split and crossed over. A simple band the same color as the dress held it together and showed off Lilith’s amazing figure. The ensemble was topped off with a pair of silver gladiator sandals that looked like someone had set diamonds into the straps.
“Oh… oh, wow…”
Lilith blushed at the barely whispered words. A hint of pink rose to her cheeks.
Stepping out from behind her was a grinning Maria.
“See?” she proclaimed, pointing at Christian with her right index finger. “I told you this outfit would knock him dead. I think you actually broke him.”
Christian shook himself from his stupor long enough to glare at Maria.
“I am not broken,” he informed her, almost scowling. “I just…” he trailed off, becoming speechless as his gaze once more landed on Lilith.
“Please stop staring. It’s embarrassing,” Lilith whispered. Christian shuddered at the delicate sound of her voice, even as he wondered how someone’s voice could both soothe and torment him as hers did.
Taking a deep breath, Christian tried to calm himself. He tried telling himself that this was just Lilith, and that it didn’t matter how gorgeous she was. He also told himself that this would be no different from the other times they had gone out together. It didn’t work out as well as he’d hoped.
Christian sought Lilith’s baby-blues, and he gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I guess I lost myself for a second there. It’s just that you look so… so…”
Maria's grin was like a cat that had been given a bowl of fresh cream. “Beautiful? Stunning? Incredible? Sexy enough to eat?”
Christian gave Maria a blank stare, “First off, I don’t think something can be sexy enough to eat. Second”—he looked back at Lilith— “I’m not sure any of those words are an apt description.”
“Then what would you use?”
“How about …” Christian struggled to find the words that could properly describe Lilith. In the end, he could only think of one line from a book that he'd read—his second light novel. “She looks so ethereally beautiful that every angel in heaven must be turning green with envy.”
“Wow.” Maria looked suitably impressed. “That wasn't too shabby. Did you come up with that all on your own?”
“No,” Christian admitted, only feeling mildly sheepish when Maria gave him a flat look. “I read it in a book.”
“A Goddess Falls to Earth.” Lilith’s face wore a soft smile. As Christian offered her a smile of his own, Maria looked back and forth between the two.
A moment later, she sighed. “You two really are a match made in heaven.”
Christian and Lilith both blushed bright red. They looked at each other, and then looked away just as quickly.
From the way she was grinning, Christian had a feeling that Maria was never going to let Lilith live this down.
Interlude 4
The sun had long since disappeared behind the horizon. Night had fallen on Seal Beach.
Sitting on a train taking her home, the seventeen-year-old runaway stewed in anger. This night had been horrible.
After leaving her apartment, she had gone to Up Lounge for her shift, only to find that the manager had discovered that she had used a fake ID and falsified documents to work under an assumed name. He hadn’t sold her out, but he did tell her that because she was a liability, he couldn’t afford to keep her. She’d then been summarily fired.
Without a job and nothing to do but drown herself in a pity party of such epic proportions that emos everywhere would have shed tears, Stacy had gone to the nearest bar and convinced the first man she met to buy her some alcohol. It had been ridiculously easy. Even if she wasn’t fit like Maria or a sex bomb like Lilith, she was still quite the catch, and a little skin on her part had gone a long way.
She didn’t know how many drinks she had consumed, but it had been enough that she almost blacked out. Actually, she was pretty sure she had blacked out. There was a gap in her memory. Or at least she thought it was a gap. Stacy couldn’t be sure of anything at the moment. Her head was still spinning.
At some point in between the time that she started drinking and now, she must have left the man and gotten on the train. She didn’t remember leaving. Nor did she remember getting on the train. It was strange, but she didn’t let it bother her too much. With the amount of alcohol in her system, complex thought processes were a little beyond her.
“Attention, all passengers. The train has now arrived at Seal Beach station. For those of you getting off, please be careful when stepping out of the train. Thank you, and have a great night.”
The announcement from the overhead speakers blared obnoxiously loud in Stacy’s ears. She groaned, holding her head as she rose to her feet.
She exited the train, nearly tripping when her left foot hit the lip of the walkway. Cursing and grumbling after she finally managed to find purchase, Stacy s
tumbled out of the train station and onto the city streets.
The nighttime air hit her like icy stakes. The cold seeped into her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself, a feeble attempt at keeping warm. Maybe putting on just her black lace bodice, a black skirt, and stockings hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
She stumbled through the darkened streets, passing only an occasional street lamp. A shadow fell over her. Stacy barely noticed it.
At least, not until a hand wrapped around her throat from behind.
She felt her breath leave her as that hand pulled her into an alley.
She felt her back hit a wall.
She felt panic as her breath was driven from her lungs.
Felt sharp fangs sink into her jugular.
After that, Stacy Moon felt nothing at all.
Chapter 19
Lilith couldn’t wipe the silly little grin off her face when she woke up the next morning and got ready for work. She felt like she was gliding on air. There was a vibrancy within her that hadn’t been there before, a glow about her that had not existed until now. Other people noticed this glow as well.
“You’re in an awfully chipper mood this morning.” Lilith stopped humming and looked up from the paper that she was grading.
“Oh, hi, Janice,” she said, a curious look replacing her smile. “What do you mean chipper? I'm always like this.”
“Oh, I don't think so.” The older woman’s eyes twinkled, and her smile was that of a sly fox about to play a prank. “I’m guessing that date of yours went well?”
Like a single ray of light penetrating the clouds of a massive thunderstorm, Lilith’s face broke out into a smile. Last night, she and Christian went on their first date, and it had been everything that she could have ever hoped a date would be. Christian had been a little awkward―she got the feeling that he wasn’t used to these kinds of situations―but he was also a perfect gentleman. He treated her with respect and dignity, never tried pushing her into doing something that she didn’t want to do, and made no attempt to take advantage of her. This was in spite of the fact that he obviously found her attractive, judging from the way he had been staring at her the whole time.
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