The Devil's Mistress

Chapter 4: The Warning

The figure stood just beyond the flickering candlelight, their features barely discernible. Lilith’s heart raced as she studied the shadowy presence before her. The sense of dread that filled the room was suffocating, as if the walls themselves were closing in, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. There was something eerily familiar about this figure, something that pulled at memories she had long buried.

"Who are you?" Lilith repeated, her voice sharper now, more demanding.

The figure didn’t move, didn’t flinch at her question. Instead, they seemed to drift closer, as though the air itself carried them. When they spoke again, their voice was lower, softer, but no less menacing.

"I am the one who should have warned you sooner," the figure said. "The one who knows the truth about Hollow Creek and the fate you've inherited."

Lilith clenched her fists. "I don’t need your cryptic riddles. I need answers. Why was my house marked? What is this about the Chosen?"

The figure stepped into the light at last, revealing a face that nearly made Lilith stumble back. It was a woman, tall and thin, her skin pale and stretched too tight across her bones. Her eyes, though, were the most unsettling—black as the void, with no whites, no pupils, just endless darkness that seemed to swallow the candlelight.

"You’ve been marked because your bloodline owes a debt," the woman said, her voice almost a hiss. "The Carvers weren’t just feared because of their wealth and power. They were feared because they made a pact long ago, one that has never been fulfilled. Your family was Chosen to complete the ritual."

Lilith’s pulse quickened. The word—Chosen—echoed through her mind, each repetition bringing with it the heavy weight of a history she had tried to escape. Her parents had whispered about the pact, but they had never spoken of it in detail. It had always been a shadow that hung over them, something dark and dangerous that no one dared confront directly.

"Ritual?" Lilith asked, her voice strained. "What ritual?"

The woman tilted her head, her dark eyes narrowing as if amused by Lilith’s ignorance. "The ritual that binds Hollow Creek to its ancient master. The one your family began centuries ago and failed to complete. The town’s survival, its very existence, rests on the fulfillment of that pact. And now, the time has come for you to finish what they started."

Lilith swallowed hard, her mind racing. “You’re saying my family made a deal with—what, the Devil?”

The woman’s lips curled into a thin smile. "Not quite. But close enough. Hollow Creek has always been a cursed place, tied to forces far older than this world. Your ancestors thought they could control those forces, bend them to their will. But they underestimated the price they would have to pay."

Lilith felt a cold sweat prickling at the back of her neck. “And what is that price?”

“The lives of the Chosen,” the woman said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Blood for power. Flesh for protection. The Carvers were the first to make the offering, and now, after all these years, the debt must be paid in full.”

Lilith’s blood ran cold. “You’re saying… I’m supposed to die?”

The woman didn’t respond immediately, but her silence was enough. The weight of her stare made it clear. Lilith wasn’t just a pawn in some ancient game—she was the sacrifice.

"No," Lilith said, shaking her head. "That’s not happening. I’m not going to let some ancient curse dictate my fate."

The woman stepped closer, her presence towering over Lilith despite her frail appearance. “You don’t have a choice. The mark has already been placed. The ritual is already in motion. If you don’t fulfill your family’s debt, something far worse will happen to you—and to this town."

Lilith’s mind raced. Every instinct told her to run, to escape this nightmare, but she knew the woman was right. The pact had been set long before she was born, and now it was coming for her.

"Who are you?" Lilith asked again, her voice trembling.

The woman’s expression softened, just for a moment, as if a flicker of humanity had returned. "I was once like you," she whispered. "Long ago. I was meant to be the sacrifice before your family took my place. I’ve been bound to this town ever since, watching, waiting for the day when someone else would be Chosen."

Lilith’s breath caught in her throat. “You were supposed to be sacrificed?”

The woman nodded slowly. “And I would have been, had your ancestors not made their pact. They bought themselves time—time that has now run out."

Lilith’s head spun. She could feel the weight of the town, its history pressing down on her, trying to pull her under. Hollow Creek wasn’t just a cursed town—it was a trap, designed to consume those who dared to challenge it.

The woman’s dark eyes bore into her. "You have until the gathering tomorrow night. After that, there’s no turning back. If you refuse to fulfill the pact, you’ll face something far worse than death."

Lilith clenched her jaw, her mind spinning with a thousand questions and no clear answers. “What if I refuse? What if I leave?”

The woman’s smile vanished, replaced by an expression of deep sorrow. “You can’t escape this. No one can. Hollow Creek will follow you wherever you go. The pact binds you to this place, just as it bound your ancestors. If you don’t complete the ritual, it will consume you."

Lilith stared at the woman, her thoughts swirling. The ritual, the Chosen, the pact—it was all coming to a head, and she had been dragged into the center of it. But she wasn’t ready to surrender.

“Who made the pact? Who holds the power over Hollow Creek?” Lilith demanded, her voice rising with urgency.

The woman stepped back, her figure once again becoming a shadow in the flickering light. “You’ll find out soon enough,” she whispered. “But remember this: not everyone in this town is what they seem. The ones who invited you to the gathering—they have their own agenda. Be careful who you trust.”

And with that, the woman faded into the darkness, leaving Lilith standing alone in the silent, eerie library.

Her heart pounded in her chest, her mind racing with the horrifying realization that tomorrow night, everything would change. The gathering wasn’t just a meeting—it was a ceremony. And if she didn’t figure out a way to stop it, she would be the final piece in a deadly puzzle her family had set into motion centuries ago.

Lilith gritted her teeth and turned toward the library’s exit, her resolve hardening.

Whatever it took, she would break the pact.

She had to.