What You Are Is Beautiful

A Nighttime Hellride

Lilith's mind was a twisted and tangled mess as she slept. She was surrounded in a somehow familiar chaotic red orange light. The demoness could see shadowy figures moving across the hellish back drop. She shivered partially in fear but also from how cold the atmosphere was. The breeze tugged lightly at her hair, startling her into turning to face the scene behind her.

Lilith couldn't stop the panic that erupted in her chest. The looming figure of a Tarask stood just a few meters from her. She tensed up, bearing her claws and awaiting its attack. But it seemingly had no interest in her at all. In fact, it continued lumbering on in its previously determined path. As did the other Tarasks laid out across the scene.

But the Tarasks weren't the only threat nearby. The shadowy forms of various iblis hordes were scattered around the scene playing out before Lilith. Their glowing yellow eyes fit perfectly with the hellscape before her. Their forms strode over the messy soup of a ground they stood over. That's when Lilith realized that the ground she stood on wasn't a solid gray cement or ashy dirt, but rather fluid and moving. Lilith felt as if it wasn't her, but the ground that was moving her further into the scene, but either way, she was moving toward the center line of traffic.

Her eyes frantically searched the scene before her, finding hellhound packs, iblis hordes, and various Tarasks walking about around her. In the corner of her eye she saw a massive, dark blue reptilian form with cold, blue eyes that were following her movement. It dared not move on her, but it's threatening gaze hung on her form before switching to another passerby. Lilith looked behind her to take a look at the new sight of the reptilian gaze only to see an uninterested iblis. When she turned back around, the dragon like creature was gone.

Lilith heard familiar chatter occurring over to her right. Three demons stood together in a circle speaking to one another in their native language. Horns erupted from the corners of their forehead and from each temple. They twisted upward and forward through their stark white hair. Their arms and cheeks were adorned with various little lines, swirls, and angles, creating intricate and unique patterns. Dark black claws protruded from their fingertips and their blackened eyes reflected the bouncing and swishing red and orange light around them.

Lilith was about to approach when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She cried out in shock and turned, earning a slash at her opponent who simply looked down at the cut on forearm and smirked.

"I've been waiting for you, Lilith. You're a part of my great plan whether you like it or not."

He reached out again, putting a hand around her neck and lifting her from the ground. Lilith thrashed around violently, clawing at his hands for dear life. She felt herself get thrown down to the fluid ground. It sloshed around her as she passed through, the grey matter filling her lungs and sight. The more she struggled, the faster she sunk. She screamed and cried out, only to be met with the occasional urgent murmur of her name.

"Lilith...Lilith...Lilith."

"Lilith!" Camila whisper shouted. She placed a hand on the distressed sleeper whose eyes shot open and locked on her target before slashing at her shoulder.

Camila gasped and then winced in pain. She clutched at her gashed shoulder and took in a sharp breath. "Camila?"

"Yeah. It was just me." The petite woman sat herself on her bed and took her hand away from her wound to catch a glimpse of the red covering her hand. "Dang. I really liked these pajamas," she said regarding the torn shoulder in her t-shirt that read 'Say aloe to my little friends.'

"Shit, Camila. I'm so sorry." Lilith stood and stepped over to the bed. She reached out, retracting her claws and pulling the sleeve up to her a better look at the cut. "I was having a nightmare." She saw the smaller girl wince as the fabric brushed her wound.

Lilith took a good look at the gash before moving to one of the various cabinets around the room. She grabbed a handful of gauze and bandaids as well as hydrogen peroxide and a petroleum based gel to protect the wound from infection. She padded back over to the bed where Camila sat, holding her sleeve back from the already swelling bloody mess. "I'm so sorry," Lilith murmured.

"It's okay. You were really out of it." Camila winced as Lilith brought a cloth down to wipe away the blood. "What were you dreaming about?"

Lilith sighed and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. Camila took in a deep breath and began slowly exhaling through her slightly parted lips. Lilith glanced at the girl trying to exercise mind over matter and felt guilt look up in her chest. She needed to get her shit together. She couldn't keep hurting people around her on instinct. What if she repeated her incident with Sister Crimson, but with someone like Camila? Lilith felt sick at the thought of hurting Camila—or anyone hurting the little saint for that matter. "I don't really know how to explain it." Lilith grabbed the hydrogen peroxide. "I was in Hell, but I saw Tarask packs, iblis hordes, this almost dragon looking creature, and then," she paused, "these demons...that looked a little bit like...me..."

Camila straightened at that. "You're implying there's more of you?"

"I don't know if I would say more of me."

Camila looked down, feeling criminal for making such an objectifying statement. "I'm sorry. I—Are you thinking that there might be more people with your...abilities?"

Lilith sighed as she pulled a piece of medical tape out before tearing it. "Yeah. Pretty much. But I still don't know how I got this way. I know I was..."

Camila softened visibly. "...dragged to hell?" she finished for Lilith who was looking very distressed at the thought.

"I guess so. The place I saw just a moment ago definitely wasn't Heaven."

"Mmm," Camila hummed soothingly. She let the room fall into silence as Lilith continued to fix up her shoulder. Camila noted the attention she was paying to every sign of discomfort and how quickly she adjusted her methods to avoid hurting her.

Lilith worked quickly, but gently. That was a side of Lilith that hardly anyone got to see: Gentle Lilith. Camila has to say that she really did like this side of the demoness Sister Warrior. She didn't seem as angry or repressed. Her sleep muddled mind freed her from the anxieties she carried on her shoulders throughout the day and softened everything about her into this cute, mumbling mess who was trying her best—and succeeding—in being productive in such a state. Camila felt her heart throb with warmth as she saw Lilith's eyes continually flick up to her face, checking for any further signs of discomfort. She finished securing the gauze to her injury and told Camila that she would help her change it in the morning.

Camila quirked her eyebrows in concern. "Are you okay to go back to sleep?"

Lilith sighed. She needed to be honest and to be honest with herself, something about telling Camila the truth and being weak before her wasn't as horrible as she thought it would be. In fact, she almost desired to be vulnerable with the shorter woman. "Not really. I might stay up and read for a while until my mind is too tired to produce Hell scapes and demon people."

"Or..." Camila breathed, bracing herself for the next part. "You could always come over to my cot or I could go to yours. I find that not sleeping alone is a great way to prevent nightmares." Lilith visibly stiffened. "You don't have to of course. I just thought I would let you know that I don't mind."

"No," Lilith hurriedly responded. She took a deep breath before responding. "I would like that a lot." She waited a moment more, seeing Camila's expressions light up ever so slightly before she walked around to the other side of the bed, pulling back the covers. She laid down and felt Camila's weight shift the mattress.

"I have to lay facing you because of my shoulder."

Lilith slightly turned the corners of her lips. "Of course." She shifted slightly to get more comfortable.

Camila shifted forward and reached out to stroke Lilith's hair. She marveled at the fine texture of it and the way that the dim light from Ava's bedside lamp made it glow with warmth, just like everything around them. She saw Lilith close her eyes, relaxed. Camila shifted close to rub Lilith's shoulder soothingly. Lilith shifted closer to Camila, appreciating the warmth radiating from her. Camila reaches an arm around her and the two were pushed against one another. Lilith sunk into the embrace without a second thought.

Lilith fell into a deep, dreamless sleep for the rest of the night.