לִילִית: Lilith's Story

Chapter Five

Notes:

The information about the Circles of Hell comes from Dante's Inferno: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante)

Chapter Five

Zelda's head throbbed, side effects from the time travel; she watched the exchange between Lilith and Lucifer and watched as they walked away and out of sight. She quickly wiped at the tears staining her cheeks, having fallen with the realization that Lilith was truly trapped by the Dark Lord.The blackmail, gaslighting, and abuse Lilith had endured for millenia made Zelda's heart ache. She closed her eyes against the pulsing in her head and heart.

When she opened them again, she found herself in Hell, and somewhere Lilith was screaming. Zelda's broken ankle limited her movements and with a frustrated sigh, she crawled toward Lilith's cries. Despite her invisibility, the flames of Hell saw all and they licked at her naked flesh, leaving behind pools of sweat. By the time the High Priestess found the Mother of Demons, she was drenched in sweat and desperately wishing for a reprieve from the heat. What she saw sent a shockwave of icy fear through her, cooling her to the core.

Lilith was dangling over the raging River Styx, naked and bound with her arms and hands twisted unnaturally behind her; the rope was wrapped around her torso, then strung up on a pulley system like a medieval dunking chair without the seat. A mindless, dead-eyed minion was controlling the pulley, pulling her up from the water and then dropping her down again, submerged beneath the water. More than the image before her, it was what was lurking in the water that made Zelda's blood run cold...hundreds of human-like figures bobbed up and down, eagerly awaiting Lilith's descent.

There were two kinds of Wrathful in the Fifth Circle of Hell; those that were actively fighting with one another on the surface of the slimy water, and those that were passively floating just beneath the surface, waiting. With each dunk, the vicious Wrathful shoved Lilith deep beneath the surface, forcing the air out of her lungs, and keeping her submerged and drowning. The passive Wrathful moved with dangerous intent, clawing at the Mother of Demons, leaving scratches and scars, tooth marks piercing her fragile skin; and each time she was pulled back up, just as much blood as water ran off of her.

The river's oily surface slid off of Lilith's skin, dripping in slow plops back into the crowded water below. The Mistress of Hell was being punished for defying her Master - she'd taken Hell's power in her own hands and made some decisions Lucifer hadn't approved. In return, she had been cast into the Nine Circles of Hell to suffer. The first, Limbo, had been a long wait of wicked suspense of what was to come. Time was of no consequence in the circles and Lilith had no idea how long she had awaited her fate, days, months, years...she would never know. She waited naked, chained in a kneeling position, hyper aware of her surroundings in anticipation of being summoned to the next circle. As she waited, her mortal needs were neglected and she grew too thin, haggard, and ill.

At last, she was dragged into the Second Circle, Lust, where she was tied to a post and hoisted high into the air to be beaten incessantly by violent winds. Again, time passed, and the wind tore at her skin and hair. Her eyelashes tore from her eyelids, blood splattering her cheeks, her lips cracked and wind burnt also bled. Her body tore away from the pole and was slammed back into it repeatedly, bruising her back and eventually breaking her shoulder blades. Any tear she shed was swiftly blown away until she couldn't tell if she was even crying anymore.

The Third Circle of Hell, Gluttony, saw Lilith once again chained to the ground. Thankful that she was no longer hanging, she tried to rest but the vile, putrid slush produced by the icy ceaseless rain crept into her cuts and threatened to drown her. This level of Hell had the added horror of Cerberus, the three-headed Beast of Hell, and he delighted in mauling and flaying Lilith with his claws. The scratches left by him made her beg for death, their depth nearly bone-deep, they bled and oozed pus as they became infected from the filthy water she was forced to lie in.

In Greed, the Fourth Circle of Hell, heavy gold weights crushed Lilith beneath them. She felt her ribs crack and began to wonder just how much suffering she could endure. The weight a welcome reprieve from anything tearing at her, she imagined it was the warmth of a caring individual who would protect her from any more horrors. Just as she was slipping out of consciousness, welcoming the bleak darkness, the Earth opened up beneath her and she fell into the abyss to land in the Fifth Circle - where she now found herself.

Zelda Spellman retched. The stench from the river was overpowering, the Wrathful reminded her of a hoard of cockroaches on the water, and Lilith's screams deafened her. She watched in horror as the minion lazily released the rope and Lilith fell swiftly into the water, hitting the surface with a sickening thud, and disappearing beneath it. Logically, the redheaded witch knew that she was in the past and therefore, Lilith would survive this because she was alive in the present but bearing witness to her torture and torment was a horror Zelda could never have imagined.

Crawling to the edge of the River Styx, Zelda gagged again at the sight of the Wrathful. They had the same general shape as a human body but their eyes were either hollow, empty sockets, or they were pure black. Their bones were barely covered in skin and tufts of hair grew everywhere but on their heads. When they opened their mouths, teeth like daggers gnashed and sliced, their tongues blackened and serpent-like. It was a sight that would haunt Zelda's nightmares for the rest of her life. Straining her body as far across the water as she could, the High Priestess reached out to try and touch Lilith but the Wrathful smelled her fear and suddenly all of those horrifying eyes were on her. She was no longer invisible and they snatched her from the banks of the River Styx, pulling her down beneath the surface of the water.