Queens of Darkness

Chapter One

I sat on Kara's stoop, thinking of my old life. I missed my powers, the feeling of being unconquerable, but now I have love. For the first time, I understood true love.

My demon father Asmodeus loved me in his own twisted way, but that paled in comparison to Kara's love. And her mother's, Danielle DuBois. Nice woman, a bit crazy because she saw the demons but didn't remember her Guardian Angel life. But I don't mind anymore. I had a new family, one that loved me and wouldn't betray me like the last love I had.

"Lilith?"

I looked up to see Kara approaching with several bags of groceries in her hands. She looked so normal, so ordinary, so... mortal. And yet...

"Hey sis," I replied. "Want any help?"

"Sure," she replied, sounding relieved to lighten her load. "Here, take this one."

I took hold of the bag and almost dropped it on my toes. "Gave me the heaviest one, huh?" I teased, struggling to heft it up.

Kara grinned. "Hey, I carried all three back!" she retorted.

"Good point. C'mon."

We huffed and puffed up those stairs so much, I was afraid we'd blow the entire apartment down. By the time we made it to the door, it felt as if I had just been drowning. I slumped against the wall while Kara took out her keys and unlocked the door. We entered and plopped the groceries down on the kitchen table, unpacking and putting everything away neatly.

"Kara? Lilith? Is that you?" Kara's mom called from her bedroom. She came out and hugged us. "Thank goodness the demons didn't get you!" She turned to the food and started talking about recipe ideas, as if she hadn't just been raving about supernatural entities. Behind her back, Kara rolled her eyes at her mom, as if to say, Can you believe this? I refrained from replying.

"How about beef stew with egg noodles?" Kara's mom was saying. "We can cook together as a family!"

I smiled. "Of course."

Kara grinned and added her assent. We set to work, with Mrs. DuBois preparing the meat to slow cook in the oven, and Kara and I chopping up potatoes and carrots. Kara's mom dumped a bag of egg noodles into a pot of boiling water.

"Isn't this wonderful?" she chirped. She hummed and set the timer on the oven for the meat. "I can take it from here, girls. Go relax."

We cleaned off our knives and hands, then went into Kara's bedroom. She closed the door and I plopped down on her bed, considered her easy posture and life-filled eyes. She didn't remember me but I certainly remembered her. Kara straightened a puppy calendar hanging on her light purple walls before coming and sitting next to me, leaning against her colorful, green throw pillows. Her room was decorated sparsely, but what she did have were pictures of her family hanging on her walls. I noticed a framed picture of her and David sitting on the night table beside her, and my heart panged. They look so happy together, so unlike me and...

"Is this David?" I asked, picking up the photo, even though I knew it was.

"Um, y-yeah." She blinked. "How did you know?"

Crap, I forgot she didn't know I knew him.

"I do get around, Kara," I said, adopting a teasing tone. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't entirely true either.

"You know, I don't know anything about your life before you came here, yet you seem to know an awful lot about mine." Kara wasn't buying my humor, so instead I laughed mildly.

"What's so funny?" she asked, crossing her arms.

I shook off my laughter. "You know more about my life than you think," I muttered quietly. "Let's just say I've seen you around before."

Kara raised her eyebrow. "I'm sure I would have remembered meeting someone like you with your butt-length platinum blond hair before."

"The things those Angels do when it comes to memory," I said to myself, smiling and shaking my head.

"Did you just say... angels?"

"Don't worry about it." I knew I had peaked her curiosity.

"No really, I want to know," she pressed. "You always seem to close up when it comes your past. I want to get to know my sister."

"I said—" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow jump across the wall. "Did you see that?" I asked.

She frowned. "No. What?"

"THAT," I said, pointing at another shadow moving. She stared at it.

"Now I do. What is that?" she asked nervously. "Is it a demon?!"

I had wondered the same thing too, but after studying it, I was pretty sure it wasn't. "No," I told her.

She looked at me curiously. "Is there something you're not telling me? I feel like you know more than you're letting on."

"Yes, but the shadow's not it," I replied, just as confused as her. I got up and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked, jumping up and coming over.

"I want to track that... thing, whatever it is, and see where it takes me."

"Can I come?"

"It might be dangerous."

She shrugged. "I have a feeling I've had my fair share of danger before."

I smiled. Yes you have. "Sure, just let me lead. I've had my fair share in dealing with shadowy things."

As we headed towards the door, Kara's mon called out, "Wait a second, girls. Where are you going?"

"To look for something," I replied back.

"But dinner's ready. Why don't you go after you've had something to eat?"

Kara and I looked at each other. I shrugged helplessly. "Ok, mom," she responded. "Come on," she said, turning to me. "We might as well put some food in our stomachs. I have a feeling we might be out for a while."

Sighing, I turned and followed her to the dining table.

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Switching this dedication to Kim Richardson because this has more of her stories' elements. The next one goes to Sarah Benson. Comments, advice, corrections. Keep reading. I'm posting the next chapter soon!

-Misty out