Whispers at Witching Hour

Chapter 100

Musical inspiration: Empty Note – Ghostly Kisses (Acoustic)

Lilith had darkened the room because she could not bear the light anymore. It felt too much like life when she did not want to be alive at all. She had not slept, she could not. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her son, slaughtered, reproachful. So she preferred to stay awake and had even dug out a doll from somewhere she could not remember. It helped. It was something to hold on to and fool herself with. In the dim light and her blurred state, the doll sometimes even ceased being a doll and she could convince herself it was the real thing.

But her illusion could not stand against outsiders intruding; like Hilda this morning, pushing the door open while she hurried to wipe her tears away. She was glad it was not Zelda; she was not prepared for seeing her yet.

"Huh, how are you doing in here?", the cheerful witch bubbled, bringing in a tray of breakfast that made her feel like vomiting only looking at it, but she smiled her way through it, so Hilda would leave as soon as possible.

"I'll tell you what, since Lucifer visited, Baby Adam, who has a tendency to be a bit fussy, doesn't he? He's been as quiet as a church mouse."

"Yes. Well, little Adam is an absolute angel." She barely managed to keep her voice from cracking, the word "angel" having too much of a bitter taste now.

"You need us, we're here, all right?"

Lilith nodded weakly and Hilda had a sickening feeling in her gut as she left, telling her something had gone terribly wrong, but she did not know what to do about it. Her sister had come home last night, refusing to talk, apart from telling her she had done as she had been asked and talked to Lilith. Then, this morning, she had told her to go check on Lilith first, because she felt like the demoness did not want to see her. Upon Hilda's insistence, she had agreed to go in later.

The fact alone Zelda had been sleeping at the mortuary without Lilith was enough for her to see something was going on. She worried about both women now, whom she cared about a lot. Zelda had not been herself lately, acting mostly numb and unresponsive, drinking a lot. Lilith with a terribly fragile mental state. Hilda had a feeling this would blow up big time soon and the only one she had to share her concerns with was Marie, who had kindly agreed to keep them company at the mortuary.

~

Zelda felt encouraged to try talking to Lilith again after having Vinegar Tom back, thinking it might cheer her demoness up and ease the tension between them. She needed to fix this; it was all her fault. So, she carried the beagle in her arms to the bedroom where Lilith was hiding away, as Hilda had told her.

She was pleased to find the door was not locked anymore when she pressed down the handle and was able to push the door open with her foot. Though she had not been prepared for the state of the room; dark, somber and messy.

"Lily?"

The figure of her fiancé in the armchair winced, clutching the bundle in her arms closer to her chest. But her face did not turn towards her, eyes fixed on an undefined point ahead. Zelda felt discouraged again and let out a long sigh as she approached the demoness, who was turning away more and more.

Her hand wandered to her shoulder, squeezing affectionately; an unsatisfying replacement for the kiss Zelda longed for. She caressed Lilith's jaw and neck with the back of her hand once before taking seat in the chair opposite, Vinnie T. curling in her lap, where she petted him absently.

Lilith appeared petrified, her face remaining all the same, looking all the same. Sad and far gone, like an abandoned battlefield. Zelda's eyes closed slowly, her hand stopping its movements.

"We can work through this, we'll get some help for you", she got straight to the point, trying to sound hopeful.

Lilith took her time, making Zelda think she did not even listen and would not give her an answer, but then she did. "No, I'm afraid it's too late for me", she stated emotionless.

"Don't say that", Zelda blurted out, "You know I felt the same back then, like everything was lost, but you had faith in me, in us", she almost pleaded.

"This is different."

Zelda let herself fall back in the chair, startling Vinnie T. with the unexpected motion. "I don't see how."

Silence. Zelda was biting her lip, looking nowhere in particular to sort her thoughts and feelings. She felt like everything she did and said was wrong and making everything worse. Her familiar sensed her being close to tears and climbed with his front paws on her chest, licking her face.

"Look, I brought Vinnie T.", she changed the subject, returning to her original plan, "He's an Eldritch Terror but the cutest one, isn't he?"

She pouted and kissed the dog's wet nose, finding some joy in the interaction with her familiar. She glanced over to Lilith, hoping to find the hint of a smile there, but was disappointed. Lilith's sorrow was suffocating her, and she felt the urge to get out of this place as fast as she could, or it would suck her in as well.

Vinnie T. jumped from her lap, his nose following some trace he had picked up on the ground as Zelda stood up, her arms hanging loosely on her sides, watching stone-cold Lilith with glazed eyes. Then the dog let something fall at her feet. Zelda bent to pick it up, discovering it was the cuddly toy she had made, making her smile weakly. She took it and placed it on the table where Lilith could see it, wishing it would remind her she was loved and supported.

Zelda could not resist the need for contact anymore and approached Lilith once again, her hand tracing Lilith's arm that was lying on top of the bundle in her arms to her hand, taking it in hers and lifting it up to kiss the back of it. She held it against her lips, no resistance but also no participation coming from her fiancé. She blinked tears away, her mouth frowning against the soft but cold skin.

Unable to bear this cold treatment, the scarring grief, any longer, she let Lilith's hand fall and almost ran out, Vinnie T. jumping after her, whimpering.

Lilith's eyes were glued to the cuddly toy on the table as the salty liquid gathered, her hand remaining where it had dropped, hanging from the armrest. As much as she wanted to, she could not move, her body failing her. She wanted nothing more than to turn her face away from the teddy bear holding its little one.

Something was building up inside her, swelling against her chest, robbing her of air to breathe with every passing second. Her chest started heaving, having trouble keeping up the oxygen supply, lips parting for better flow. Though her vision got blurry due to the lack of blinking and her eyes dry, the image of the mama bear and baby bear were burnt into her retina.

Then in one forceful swift motion she broke free, jumped up and shoved the cuddly toy off the table with the side of her arm, watching it fall and land halfway in the fire.