“Okay Lily, it’s on. Start whenever you’re ready.”

Lilith drummed her finger against her thigh and whistled. “Okay. I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Lucy nodded, pulling up a stool. “Alright. Lilith. First of all, tell me your age and full name.”

“My name is Lilith Camilla Salem. I was born on December thirty-first, and I’m sixteen years old.”

“Anything special about your birth date?”

“Hmm. . .my father said they tried to have me in December. Because the closer to all hollows day I’m born, the more dark powers I’ll have.”

“Are you kidding! You could’ve been like Voldemort!”

“I’d also probably be evil, too. I don’t like messing with witchcraft and stuff. My father says it’s bad.”

“But, you still practice bending shadows and stuff though?”

“Yeah. As long as I don’t mess with spells, I’ll be fine.” Lilith squirmed in her seat, having broken her comfort zone by sharing her secrets.

“Hey, we can stop if you want?”

“Y-yeah Lilith. If you're uncomfortable. . .”

“No, it’s fine guys. This is good for me.”

The two girls nodded and went on. “Okay, so Lilith; favorite music?”

“Rock. My favorite band is the Vamps. No pun intended.” She laughed at that, staring off into space. “Whenever I hear their songs, I think of me and him. . .”

“What about Shalquoir? Aren’t you two. . .”

She squeezed her knee, looking down. “I. . .what me and Shalquoir have is. . .different. I can’t put it into words. I’m a mess.”

“It’s fine, Lilith, really. Anyways, what’s your favorite past time?”

“Collecting money from different countries.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded gleefully. “Yeah. I love collecting things from foreign places. Whenever I look at a Greek drachma, I think of ancient Greece. I just get a fuzzy feelings inside. Sometimes when I can’t sleep, I close my eyes and imagine I’m on a mighty ship during a sea storm. Storms always helped me to relax.”

“This is good, Lily! You’re opening up! Okay next favorite book series--”

“Twilight. Next question--”

“Woah, woah, woah. Twilight? Like, that thing with the sparkling vampires?”

She nodded furiously. “H-have you read it before?”

“Err. . .no. It seemed somewhat offensive to be honest. We are totally not like how they make us out in the books, like, when was the last time you were stuck in a love triangle with a whiney girl and a werewolf?”

“Well, never, obviously. Werewolves don’t exist. It’s fiction, Lucy, come on now.”

“I feel like you just like anything vampire related.” She twiddled her thumbs guiltily. Lucy sighed while Lulu laughed. “Whatever, next question. Favorite movie?”

“Hmm. This is a hard one. I’m a huge fan of horror--”

“Of course you are. Lemme guess - Dracula?”

“What? No. If anything it’d be Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but no, no. My favorite would have to be Evil Dead. Like, if that book actually existed, I’d make it my mission to get it.”

“You’re insane, girl. Next one; how do you feel about your body?”

She blushed deeply and squirmed even more. “M-my body?”

“By the sound of your voice, I can tell you're self conscious. Come on; be real with us. How do you feel, Lily?”

She glanced down at her body. She didn’t consider herself fat, nor skinny. In her opinion, she didn’t think she was in any way unattractive. Her problem was that her looks distracted people from what's on the inside. “People are always stereotyping that vampires need to be beautiful; that their power derives from their ability to allure and entice men. I say to hell with that!” She blushed, shaking her head. “I don’t want to be like that. I want people to see me for me,and not just some seductress!”

“You tell ‘em!” Lilith breathed hard, invorgated by her confession. To think herself unattractive would be vapid, and to think herself flawless would be vain. She simply didn’t care about her looks. She preferred action. Although a little refining never hurt.

“Okay. Okay. Now that you’re in the mood, let’s get another big one out the way; what are your most fatal flaws?”

Lilith’s invigoration subsided and she raised a brow. “My fatal flaws?”

“Yeah. You know, insecurities, things that make your head hurt, things that you suck at, etc.”

A bead of sweat trickled down her face, and she wiped it away quickly. “Insecurities? I. . .I don’t have any, really.”

“Really? None at all?”

She looked down again and back up just as fast. “Y-yeah. Yes. And fatal flaws. . .none really worth mentioning.”

“That, right there, is a flaw.” She pointed a finger at Lilith. “The inability to notice your own flaws.”

“I know my flaws!” She shouted suddenly.

“I thought you didn’t have any?”

Lilith wanted to say something, but sucked it back in quickly. Her head spun. “Arrgh, can we skip this question?”

“No, we can’t. You’re not getting out of this the easy way. The moment you realize your flaws is when we can move on.”

“B-but I don’t - I can’t have any!” Lilith clenched her fists and bit her lip. Lucy and Lulu both stared wide eyed at her.

“What do you mean by can’t?”

“I. . .if I’m going to. . .dammit!” She ran her hands through her hair, flustered.

“Come on. Just get it off your chest.”

Lilith felt like she was going to throw up, but she held it down and squeezed her eyes shut. “If I’m going to become great like mama, I can’t have flaws. I need to be able to protect him once I graduate. I need to be someone he can trust with his life. I don’t no where I’m going to go from there, but that’s the first step.”

Lucy and Lulu stared at their friend with scrutiny. “By God, Lilith, is that what you think.” She nodded, her hands trembling. “Okay, we need to talk. Look, no one is perfect. I just found so many flaws already. Lilith, no matter what your mother says, becoming great doesn’t mean you have to be perfect.”

“But what if I make a wrong decision? What if I do something stupid--”

“That’s what your proxy is for, stupid. Your fatal flaw is that you believe you need to be flawless to be great.”

Lilith looked down. Deep down, she knew each and every one of her many flaws.

I don’t have a plan

I’m impulsive

I’m try to hard to do everything on my own

I’m too prideful

I’m. . .a coward.

Lilith feared a lot of things. Her addiction to blood, her Elder Breed related powers, being praised for her gifts alone.

Failing her mother.

She kept this burden hidden. She didn’t let her insecurities, her fears, or her struggles show. She needed to be fearless. She needed to be “great”.

Atleast, that’s what she believed.

“I think that’s good for now, Lily. You look beat.” She felt beat. It must have been nine in the morning, and even though the nights in the Circle were magically extended, she still felt tires regardless. Plus, she hadn’t had a drink in a while. Lucy pulled her into a hug, and Lulu joined in. “Hey, don’t kill yourself over it, okay. Your beautiful, damn smart, and I have no doubt your going to be great once we graduate.”

Lilith smiled. I haven’t seen him in ten years. Would he still think of me as a friend? How does he look now? Is he still the same person from before.

She laughed. She knew that he’d changed, just as she had. The person she’d request to become her proxy would likely be a stranger to her. Even though it felt like only days had past in her mind, he would be shocked once she came out to him.

Does he even know that we exist?