Anaphase

Phase XVIII

So maybe I was Lilith Haynes,
Maybe I wasn't.
Maybe I was crazy.
Maybe I was just a ghost.
Or maybe, I wasn't even a ghost, wasn't what anyone thought at all.
Did I even really exist if I didn't know myself?

----

"Lilith? She's opening her eyes!"
Demetri! Demetri?
Darkness.

The sound of rushing water. The smile of my mother looking down at me.
"Here sweetie," she smiled.
"Yes! Good girl! Ohhh my pretty little flightless bird," she laughed swirling me in her arms.
Grass meadows and emerging daisies were scattered over the plains.
Mother smiled down at me, her smile wrinkles slightly prominent under her fancy straw hat.
Bliss.
"I love you baby," she wavered with tears forming in her eyes.
"Be strong," she whispered.
I felt the darkness from inside surrounding me.
"No! Mama! Mum don't leave me!"
The sky darkened to nothing, the ground beneath us disappeared to smoke.
"Mum," I wept. "Please, stay. I can't do this on my own. I need you!"
Darkness.

A white roof. Vines creeping through stone cracks.

A staircase emerging at a cliff. Ropes of thorns before a blue infinite ocean.

An altar holding a small crimson jewel.

Thousands of crawling creatures approaching underwater of all different kinds unnatural and deadly.
Darkness.

The sunsets rays flared his ebony hair to a deep brown and his eyes a whole new shade in the orange flares. Turning, he met eyes with my own and reached out to caress my cheek with the back of his hand.
"Come walk with me," he said with his left arm now outstretched.
I took it hesitantly within my own and he smiled, pulling me with him.
"Demetri," I giggled surprised. "Where are you taking me?"
The scene flashed.

We walked until we arrived right under a hedge underway.
Turning once more around he stopped but never loosened his hold on my hand.
The warmth spread into my chest and filled my stomach with butterflies.
"Happy birthday Lilith Haynes," he whispered in my ear. His hand went around my waist pulling me towards him-

Chiming bells.

"Lilith, can you hear me?"
Demetri?
"Open your eyes," he encouraged.
Gasping, I sat up abruptly and regretted it instantly. Blinding light hit me like a train, nausea making my brows meet.
"Woah, easy there sweets," murmured undeniably Mrs Griffin's voice.
"Here, have some of this. It'll help," suggested Eloise handing me a warm cup.

Blinking, I allowed my eyes to adjust to the light of the room. I stared outside the window first to see the sun setting, its peak almost lost to the darkness.
"Now that she's up I'll leave her to you hon. I need to go talk with your uncle," Mrs Griffin told Demetri before smiling back at me. "Drink up dear. Trust me, it'll help."
With that, she strode out gracefully poised on a mission. Her usually calm aura was stressed. As if there was a panic going on that I wasn't aware of yet.

Demetri cleared his throat none too obviously.
Panic.
Panic rose in me as the memories flooded in.
The black figures, the snarls, The blood!
"Woah woah! Calm down Lilith. Calm down!" He yelled exasperated.
And Demetri! He killed it with a bloody knife. He appeared out of thin air! That growl he made!
"What what a-are you?" I stammered. "You killed  somebody!"
"That wasn't a real person, Lilith," he conceded immediately.
"I need to get out of here! I need to go back!"
He sprung out of his chair and sat on the edge of the bed, hands braced on my shoulders. I was silenced by his sudden closeness and the intense pull of his gaze.
"It's alright. You're safe here with me- with us. Tomorrow we will deal with this mess but for now you have to rest. Trust me, you're safe Lilith. Do you trust me? You must rest," he urged.
His eyes were so demanding and compulsive that all I could do was nod, biting my lip shut.
My eyelids did feel heavier and heavier, my body going limp. Anything to keep from the previous nightmares was welcome.
"How long was I out?" I asked Demetri.
"4 days," he disclosed making his way to the door. "I'll be back in the morning," he said.

I realised I had no idea what room I was in, but judging by the victorian window's, assumed I was still in their manor.

He was leaving?! What if they came back?! Is there an earthquake or is that just me shaking?!

He was almost out the door when my fear won over my hesitation.
"Wait, Demetri," I croaked.
He stopped and turned abruptly, eyes meeting mine.
"I don't know if they will be coming back," I whispered but he seemed to have heard me loud and clear.
"They're gone. You made sure of that," he said halfway between amazement and bitterness.
I did?
"Goodnight, Lilith."
"No! Wait!" I panicked.
He stuck his head back in curiously.
"Yes?"
"Um. Will you- will you please stay? I don't want to be alone to my thoughts. I don't think I can handle it. Just till I fall asleep."
He stood there, lips slightly parted before he closed the door gently behind him. He strode over to the fireplace which I had barely noticed was dying out and threw in another log. 

The rain fell down the window's in tears, the wind howling and calling outside.
Slowly, he turned to face me. The burning embers cast dancing shadows on his face and caused his hair tips to look like licks of flame.
He walked over, kicking his shoes off and hoodie on the way.
His v-neck shirt revealed his strong and prominent collarbones causing me to swallow and forget my trauma.
He came and laid tentatively on my right side, subtlety atop the duvet I was under.
"Thank you," I uttered, sinking further under the warmth of the sheets.
"Goodnight Lilith," he concluded.
"Goodnight."

I let the thought of my last dream fill my mind, under the hedge with him congratulating me on my birthday with that smile on his face.

I could've sworn I heard him sharply draw a breath.

And thus I fell into a peaceful slumber not touching, yet closer than we'd ever been.

Short chapter before bed I know! More soon!

Vote if you liked!