lilith. {series one}

a troll in pink. {part two}

The wind was rather cold. It swept past her body and brushed through her ears. She was cold. Freezing. The air held some sort of loneliness wrapped in it like a child in a blanket. It was marvelling how everyone walking past her seemed so cheerful and at ease. Something that was quite rare for a troll to find astonishing. She found it astonishing. Maybe she's the first.

The pod was exactly the same when she had returned that fine morning. It was much more chilly, but that was mostly it. Even through closed windows she could still see the dimly lit sitting room and the dark walls. She took a giant deep breath before descending to the doorsteps for the second time in the past 24 hours. Hands were shaking. Everything seemed to stop for a moment. Time stopped. She exhaled. Despite being only slightly annoyed with Jolly for dragging her into a mess, she wished more than ever she was with her again.

Knocked. Once, only. A few seconds later a second time. She felt her insides stir like a pot of soup. She wanted to dash, make a run for it. She didn't have a choice, though. She stood there and waited without being able to do anything.

"Come in."

Again, same as yesterday. Maybe she had gone back in time.

When she stepped inside the quiet room, she didn't feel frightened to look around. The table remained the exact same way it did the previous day. Scuttered with books and loose papers. Newspapers. There was a steaming mug of tea fitted somewhere in the mess of papers. The window was blinded by a curtain this time. And this time only one of the doors was closed. One showed the opening to a bathroom. Despite all the mess and the chaos, the pod was still a normal home. And even Jade could see that, through the clutter and chaos of random items.

She found it easier to ignore the stack of papers sitting on a shelf with a knife struck through them.

The girl was sitting in one armchair beside the fireplace, which was crackling and burning in a pile of gentle flames. The woman held the same expression on her face as she did the previous day. She was dressed more casual. Silk pants and a loose fitting, thin robe. Her hair looked exactly the same, as if she barely cared to pay attention to it.

"So... why did you ask me to come today?" Jade found herself saying. Just as the girl did the previous day, Jade held her hands behind her back. Tense.

"Four suicides."

Jade frowned, her mind blank.

"What?"

"You've heard of them, I assume. Four suicides."

"It still happens."

"Not as often as you'd think."

"Trolls die sometimes."

Jade felt her fingernails dig into her palms as she remembered. "Three. There were three." She wished she didn't remember them, but it was hard not to. She felt deep marks form on her palms from the fingernails.

Lilith didn't look up. "No. Four. There's another one."

"And how do you know that?"

"Well I'm about to be called in to assist with a fourth suicide, so there's no point in answering that."

Jade tilted her head slightly, oblivious to how utterly confused she looked. The lavender haired girl didn't even need to look at her to notice that. "What do you mean?"

Lilith finally turned to look at the girl standing in her sitting room. The eye contact was bold. She crossed her arms before her chest and gave a small smile. Jade couldn't help but notice how different she looked when she smiled. Like a completely different person. "Your voice isn't naturally that raspy. The moment you spoke yesterday I could tell that you obviously had picked up your accent from being around others who inhabit a raspier tone to their voice. Pop trolls, which you clearly are, don't usually have a raspier voice such as your own and even if they did then yours would've sounded like it. Instead yours sounds like it was picked up from others, as it occasionally shifts between tones, due to you being around pop trolls more often now. Just now you had a much clearer tone to your voice when speaking to me. Of course every troll tribe has multiple accents but it's not just the voice. When you came in yesterday you were clearly nervous but were extremely alert, especially when Jolly refused to say anything throughout most of the meeting. Honestly most trolls would hand the conversation over, but you didn't. You're obedient. You often mimic people's body postures and try to be as formal as possible. Just now you were mimicking a pose I did yesterday. Your hair used to be longer, but it's been damaged, and not naturally. Fire, perhaps. Smoke. Your hair is relatively easy to take care of, it shouldn't be poor care. And you also constantly shift your weight between feet and show signs of anxiety. Like I said you kept looking over to Jolly during your visit yesterday for help of some sort, and you were slightly uncomfortable talking to me alone. Anyone could have figured that out. All in all you couldn't have picked this behaviour up from any other troll tribe other than the rock trolls. So, Volcano Rock City or Rock Hollow."