לִילִית: Lilith's Story

Chapter Two

Lilith's eyes opened to darkness. Her ribs ached where she'd been stabbed but when she tried to reach up to touch the wound, her hands were forced to a stop by a solid wall. Panicking, Lilith felt around her body and realized there were walls on either side of her and above her. She slammed her eyes shut and concentrated on her breathing, in and out...in and out...the wall above her so close she could feel her breath colliding with it and blowing back onto her face. Her heart raced in her chest and her wound pulsed, reminding her of Zelda Spellman's betrayal.

After God created Adam, who was alone, He said 'It is not good for a man to be alone.' He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be in the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air.

Tears welled in Lilith's eyes; she had knelt before Zelda and begged for the High Priestess to save her and her response had been a dagger to the ribs. Made from Earth and back to Earth she'd been placed. Even the Mother of Demons had a heart that could be broken and in this moment, she felt it crack. Once again she had chosen the wrong Master - Zelda Spellman had taken the gift of Lilith's submission and laughed in its face. As the tears began to seep from her closed eyelids and slide down over her sharp cheekbones, to pool in the crease of her mouth, Lilith wondered how she had fallen so far from grace.

Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe,' he said, 'the woman who you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be he, sent these three angels to bring her back. "Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, fine. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters where the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.'

Lilith felt bile rise in her throat as her memories swept her back to the beginning of Time and Adam's face flashed in her mind's eye, immediately she felt repulsed and enraged. She had been given the gift of birthing demons and just as quickly, her children were taken from her. The False God had insisted on killing one hundred of her demons to punish her for not submitting to Adam and for this, she wanted to punish Adam by killing human children. Lilith saw no need to submit and was confused by God's insistence on the matter when she had been created equally, from the same Earth, as Adam.

"'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.' When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever I see you or your names or your form in an amulet, I will have no power over the infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels' names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers.

In the end, retaliation led to endless death and misery where no one prospered and Lilith grew tired of her own rage. The death of one hundred of her demon children every single day haunted her and, eventually, she stopped creating them. Those that were left caused havoc across the Earth, spreading disease, sorrow, hatred, and darkness in their wake. For that she was feared beyond anything else created by the False God and because of that, it was even more important that Adam's next wife be unfailingly subservient. From Adam's own rib, Eve was given the gift of life for a heavy price - where Lilith has pleasure without children, Eve gave birth not only without pleasure but in pain. The Mother of Demons felt an odd kinship with Eve, understanding that it was because of her that Eve suffered, and for that she hated Adam and God even more.

Lilith opened her mouth and screamed, pounding her fists on the walls of her coffin. The despair of her voice carried deep within the Earth and rumbled within the depths of Hell. The demon children she did have left felt the anguish in her cry, some of the younger ones perishing in that moment like a puff of smoke, unable to contain the profoundness of her pain. Her oldest children grew more ferocious, tearing through flesh and bathing in blood, seeking disaster and exacting revenge, wanting to cause as much suffering as their Mother was enduring.

Hands bloodied and bruised, Lilith sobbed loudly, the reality of her situation stark in its truth - how close she'd been to reigning over Hell, being free of Lucifer, and finally able to live up to her destiny as the First Woman. So close and yet it had all been taken from her as quickly as she had received it. After multiple millenia, Lilith realized she welcomed the sweet release of death. She was tired, her entire life had been one long disappointment after the other. Promises had been made, broken, made and broken again. Tortured and tormented at the will of a narcissist, she no longer believed she was meant to rule in Hell, on Earth, or anywhere in between. Parted lips released a shuddered sigh as the Dawn of Doom accepted her fate.

Lilith wondered how long it would take her to die.