The Spawn

III

"That's a lot of stairs," Angela sighed as they stood at the base of the mountain.

"I would fly us, but we can't have people seeing my wings," Lilith said. "C'mon."

Angela sighed again. "Now you definitely owe me a meeting with your dad."

"Deal."

They started hiking. "Actually, this isn't bad," Lilith said. "You should see some of the layers of hell. The storms in Lust, the terrain on Avarice. Climbing up a mountain is considerably easier than hell."

Angela laughed. "Good to know."

It was nearly twenty minutes before the pair made it to the top. The sun was low in the sky, not quite setting. "Do you think he's here?" Angela asked.

Lilith could feel it. Her father always told her that an angel had a feeling, one we could feel in our fingers. Her fingers were warm. "He's here."

"How do you know?"

"I can feel it."

"Well," she went into her backpack and pulled out a notebook and a pen. "Let's go. I follow you."

Lilith nodded. "Be honest, is the red hair too much?"

"A bit."

Lilith looked around at the few people that were around. She shook her head slightly, her hair turning blond.

"Wow," Angela nodded, "I like it."

Lilith took a deep breath, and walked into the basilica.

"Well, you didn't flame up, so that's good," Angela said under her breath.

They looked around, sitting in a pew to not stand out too much. The priest was nowhere to be found. Lilith felt uncomfortable in the church. She was sweating, feeling like she was a million degrees.

"We should look around a bit," Angela suggested.

"Agreed," Lilith nodded, as they stood and began to walk around the interior.

Something felt wrong. It felt like she had been stabbed in the gut. It scared her, she'd never felt that before. She peeled back her shirt. "Angela," she gasped.

"What-oh my God."

Her pale skin had begun to crack, revealing dark red skin beneath. "The demon in me. It's starting to come out."

She nodded. "Okay. Get outside and recover, alright? I'll find the priest and get you when I find him."

"Thank you," Lilith said, running outside. She caught her breath as she looked over the city of love. She watched her skin heal back to the paleness she knew. She sighed. She was only in that basilica for half an hour and she started to crack. She was scared, she wanted her dad. Nothing comforted her more than him.

"Lilith," came a voice. She turned to see Angela. "Come with me."

Lilith followed her back into the basilica. Angela nodded towards the ceiling. "Look at the angels, then look at him," she nodded towards a man.

"They look the same, and he's got the priest clothes," Lilith said.

Angela nodded. "Alright, tap your leg twice if you start cracking again so we can hurry up and out."

Lilith nodded. "Sounds good to me."

They approached the priest. "Excuse me," Angela tapped the priest on the shoulder. He turned. "Are you Father Jeremiah?"

"I am, who's asking?" he asked. Lilith could feel the blood in her fingers. He looked exactly like the angels on the ceiling. It was Jeremeil. He didn't have the same accent as the rest of the French.