Lilith Between Flesh And Spirit

Chapter Four: Static Black And White Noise (Part 1) ***

Warning for murder scene: hold on to your heart for this scene; tears might rain down over your screen.

"The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple."
Psalms 119:130

Two days before Norea meets Lilith.

The light had always shone upon Seth every time he was reborn again. It wasn't the armour of a knight or a firefighter uniform that made him brave. His toughness all came from the buried memories of his past lives.

And in each of them, he always died at the hands of the Archons, failing to protect Norea.

This was every one of his nightmares since the day he came back to earth again. He would always wake up at four a.m., sweat-soaked but determined to learn from his last mistake in order to beat them once and for all.

In this new year, in this new life, and in this old, same world, his name was now Sebastian Davis, aka Seth, for short, and his day always began early. Ten minutes of jumping jacks, another ten body-weight squats for the same time spent in planks without forgetting to do some mountain climbers, and in between each of them, at least five minutes of rest.

That was one hour gone and one second saved in Norea's life. His reward was a hot shower, some clothes, and a quick breakfast in front of all the school diplomas he earned in this life—they were all so meaningless for his mission.

Seth, in his unkempt beard and scruffy long ginger hair, was the picture of neglect. His old, smelly black t-shirt with holes and his dirty jeans made him even smaller in his tiny one-room flat of misfortune, and yet he kept all those memories to disguise an evidence board. The next post on it was written, "Norea's Sunday Park: Meet up with friends from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., depending on the weather."

Seth pushed his glasses up his nose bridge because, why not? Why can't a strong man have glasses? Then he looked outside at the sunshine, and his face suddenly frowned. He grabbed the note, dumped his bowl of cereal in the sink, and left.

He waited at the local park on this same bench until past lunchtime, the moment Norea appeared. She wasn't acquainted with him and only sat far away under an opposite tree with her friends. They were the same ones whom Seth squinted his eyes at before scribbling down their names in his notebook.

Yet he wasn't entirely unknown to them.

"The white freckly pedo is back, Norea!" That was one remark from her friend, and it just pushed for another to add.

"Doesn't he know by now that you're into pussies and not cucumbers?"

They both laughed, but not Norea. Her face scrunched into a grimace.

"You know what? It's my birthday in two days; I'll be eighteen, and I want this guy to leave me alone, so I'm going to talk to him right now and get it all out!" Her many mocking curt nods to her suggestion didn't convince her two friends, who only looked at each other, shocked. Norea didn't care; she just clicked her tongue at them and walked towards Seth.

"Hey you!"

Grabbing a newspaper next to him, Seth hid his face behind it, but she snatched it away.

"Yes, you. Can you stop harassing me, or I'll call the police on you?"

His face turned ashen, and he cleared his throat without being able to talk. "It's not what you think." Norea crossed her arms and knotted her eyebrows at him. "My name is Seth, and I'm not here to harass you but to protect you."