♦

2007

Six-year-old Lilith sat on the soft grass, her small hands cradling an injured bunny. The creature's fur was matted with blood, and one of its hind legs seemed twisted at an unnatural angle. Tears streamed down Lilith's cherubic face as her parents stood on either side of her.

"Honey, you need to kill it," Donna urged, placing a hand on Lilith's shoulder.

"Or you could nurture it back to health," Samuel interjected, his expression pleading for a gentler solution. He shot his wife a disapproving glance, silently begging for compassion.

"Nobody has time for that, Sam," Donna dismissed with a roll of her eyes. She reached down and picked up a rough-edged rock, holding it out to her daughter. "Kill it, Lilith."

"Jesus, Donna," Samuel protested, his eyes filled with horror. "She's just a kid."

Lilith turned to look at each of her parents, sniffling, torn between her mother's demand and her father's objection.

Donna wiped away Lilith's tears with a rough hand. "Baby, the world is a cruel place, and you're gonna learn that one way or another, even if it hurts."

Reluctantly, Lilith reached out and took the rock from her mother, turning back to face the bunny. With a surge of mixed emotions, she unleashed her frustration on the creature, the rock becoming a cruel instrument in her tiny hands.

Even after the bunny lay lifeless, Lilith couldn't bring herself to stop. The red haze of rage clouded her vision as she continued to strike the motionless form. Samuel watched in horror, his pleas ignored, while Donna stood by with a triumphant smirk, reveling in the act of cruelty.

Lilith froze in her tracks, the rock hovering over the bunny's lifeless head. The reality of what she had done sank in as she saw the blood staining her hands and clothes. She screamed, dropping the rock, and once again tears flowed freely as she clutched the lifeless bunny to her chest.

"Fuck," Samuel muttered, covering his mouth in disgust. "Is this really what you want for her?"

The world around Lilith blurred as her parents argued, the backdrop of their voices muffled by her sobs. A strange sensation filled her arms and she looked down, her tear-streaked face filled with awe as she saw the bunny miraculously healing. It jumped out of her arms, fully restored, and hopped away.

Both adults watched in shock, having witnessed the creature transform from a mangled corpse to a living being once more. Lilith grinned, turning to face her father. Samuel knelt down beside his daughter, taking her tear-stained cheeks in his hands before smothering her head in proud kisses.

"Momma?"

"I knew it," Samuel praised, holding his daughter close as he looked up to the sky. "Thank you. Oh, thank you."

"Samuel," Donna breathed out, fury in her words. "What have you done?"

♦

Lilith sat on the bottom step of the stairs, her small frame huddled into a ball as she strained to listen to her parents' heated argument.

"I can't believe you let a fucking archangel possess you to sleep in our bed! With your wife!" Donna's voice sliced ​​through the air, carrying a venomous anger.

"Baby," Samuel's voice, though desperate, held a hint of conviction. "Just listen."

"She is an abomination!" Donna's words seethed with fury, echoing through the house and piercing Lilith's young ears.

Lilith's small hands gripped the edge of the step beneath her.

"Donna, please understand," Samuel pleaded, his voice tinged with desperation. "She's special. A child of both worlds. Imagine the power she could wield for good."

"Good?" Donna scoffed, her tone dripping with disdain. "Nephalem are hated amongst both worlds, need I remind you? You have put our daughter at risk! By Heaven and Hell! There is a reason that it is forbidden."

"Donna, I know the risks."

"You've gambled with our family, Samuel. You've gambled with our daughter's life. What if they come for her?"

Amid the chaos, Lilith felt a strange surge within her and she found herself drawn to the hallway as if guided by an unseen hand. As her parents' voices reached a fever pitch, Lilith's gaze fixed on her mother's altar. The sculpture of Asmodeus, the archdemon lineage from her mother's side, seemed to leer at her.

Lilith's gaze, wide and round like pools of curiosity, shifted toward the sacred space where her father's altar held its ground, positioned in direct opposition to her mother's. The air surrounding it seemed to hum with a blend of reverence and conflict. The altar was a tapestry of sacred depictions, portraying the benevolent countenance of Jesus Christ and an angelic figurine personifying the unwavering archangel Michael.

The flames from both altars crackled with otherworldly energy, their tendrils of fire reaching upward. However, as if influenced by the ongoing celestial and infernal dispute, the candles on her mother's altar transformed, their flames turning a deep, ominous red. In contrast, the flames on her father's altar took on an eerie and vibrant blue hue, casting an ethereal glow that danced with mystical significance.

Caught in the mesmerizing display, Lilith's gasp escaped her lips, the revelation of the altered flames drawing her attention like a moth to a flame. She had been so engrossed in the cosmic drama between the altars that she hadn't noticed the sudden silence that had fallen over the house. It was only when she felt the weight of their collective gaze that she turned, her wide eyes meeting those of her parents.

Lilith felt exposed, her vulnerabilities laid bare before the watchful eyes of her parents. The altars continued to flicker with their altered flames, casting shifting shadows that seemed to reflect the intricate dance of cosmic forces within her. The room held its breath, suspended in a moment that transcended the mundane, where the boundaries between celestial and infernal blurred in the face of Lilith's existence.

♦

2012

In the hazy realm of slumber, 13-year-old Lilith found herself ensnared in the clutches of a haunting dream. A spectral curtain lifted, revealing an unsettling scene. A young blonde woman lay in the throes of childbirth, her visage strained with pain as she labored to bring forth twins.

The dream twisted into a malevolent kaleidoscope, each moment steeped in sorrow. Lilith, a passive observer in this spectral theater, witnessed the harrowing climax. The young woman, weakened and frail, succumbed to the cruel dance of life and death, leaving an indelible mark on Lilith's psyche.

As the ethereal tapestry of the dream began to fray, the echoes of her parents' voices reverberated through the void, their words latching onto Lilith's consciousness. Their distant calls acted as an anchor, a lifeline to pull her from the nightmarish depths.

With a gasp, Lilith was abruptly yanked from the dreamworld, her eyes snapping open to the harsh reality of her room. Yet, the transition from dream to wakefulness proved to be anything but ordinary. An eerie glow bathed her surroundings, casting an unusual hue upon everything.

Purple flames, an unnatural fusion of hellfire and holy fire, danced with ethereal grace, outlining the contours of her room. The flames licked at the edges of reality, painting the walls with an unsettling radiance.

♦

2014

The muffled conversation outside Lilith's bedroom intensified, weaving through the wooden door like an eerie melody of secrets. A woman's voice, foreign and burdened, resonated with an unsettling truth. "You can't keep having me do this, Don. There's going to be nothing left of her if you keep having me do this."

Donna's response was a fragile plea, a mother grappling with the weight of her daughter's anguish. "This is different. She killed her father, Vera. She hasn't eaten in days. She refuses to leave her room, let alone her bed."

Vera's hesitation hung in the air, a poignant acknowledgment of the gravity of their situation. "I can't just erase her father's death."

"I'm not asking you to," Donna implored, a hint of desperation in her voice. "Just, please, make it so she doesn't know she was the cause of all this."

A heavy sigh marked Vera's reluctant acceptance of the task at hand. The door creaked open, revealing the two women entering Lilith's dark room. The atmosphere was heavy with unspoken sorrows as Lilith lay on her side, distant and disconnected.

Donna, her voice soft and tinged with both love and sorrow, attempted to bridge the emotional chasm that had formed between them. "Hey, honey. I brought a friend." She gently placed a hand on Lilith's shoulder, a silent reassurance that felt inadequate in the face of their shared pain. "She's gonna help you, okay, baby?"

As Donna cast a glance back at Vera, a heavy breath escaped her, carrying with it the weight of decisions made in the pursuit of protecting her daughter's fragile state of mind. The room, wrapped in shadows and the remnants of Lilith's suffering, awaited the delicate touch of Vera's intervention.

Vera, a woman with a weariness etched into the lines of her face, stepped forward. Her eyes held a mixture of sympathy and regret as she regarded Lilith. "Hey there, Lilith. I'm Vera. I'm here to help, okay?"

Lilith's gaze remained distant, fixed on a point in space as if the weight of her world pressed down on her. Donna exchanged a worried glance with Vera before nodding at her to proceed.

Vera took a deep breath and approached Lilith with a gentleness that contrasted with the gravity of the situation. "Lilith, I know this is hard for you. Your mom told me what happened, and I want to help ease some of that pain."

A silence lingered in the room. Eventually, Lilith's voice, fragile and worn, broke through. "Do whatever you want."

Vera nodded solemnly, her expertise in the delicate art of memory manipulation honed by years of navigating the supernatural. With a tender touch, she placed her hand on Lilith's forehead, closing her eyes in concentration.

As Vera delved into Lilith's memories, the room seemed to shift. Ethereal tendrils of light wrapped around them. Donna watched, her heart heavy with the weight of the decisions she had made for the sake of her daughter's protection.

Lilith winced, a brief expression of pain crossing her face as memories were delicately plucked away. The process was subtle but profound, a dance between erasure and preservation. Vera worked with a precision born from experience, selectively removing the memories that threatened to shatter Lilith's fragile mental state.

When the process was complete, Vera withdrew her hand, and the room seemed to exhale, the mystical atmosphere dissipating. Lilith blinked, disoriented, as if emerging from a dream.

Donna, a mix of relief and guilt etched on her face, offered a weak smile. "It's done, sweetheart. You can rest now."

♦