Lilith Versus The Seven Demon Gods [ONC 2024]

Chapter Four: Static Black And White Noise (Part 1)

"The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple."
Psalms 119:130

Two days before Norea meets Lilith.

The light had always shone upon Seth every time he was reborn again. It wasn't the armour of a knight or a firefighter uniform that made him brave. His toughness all came from the buried memories of his past lives.

And in each of them, he always died at the hands of the Archons, failing to protect Norea.

This was every one of his nightmares since the day he came back to earth again. He would always wake up at four a.m., sweat-soaked but determined to learn from his last mistake in order to beat them once and for all.

In this new year, in this new life, and in this old, same world, his name was now Sebastian Davis, aka Seth, for short, and his day always began early. Ten minutes of jumping jacks, another ten body-weight squats for the same time spent in planks without forgetting to do some mountain climbers, and in between each of them, at least five minutes of rest.

That was one hour gone and one second saved in Norea's life. His reward was a hot shower, some clothes, and a quick breakfast in front of all the school diplomas he earned in this life—they were all so meaningless for his mission.

Seth, in his unkempt beard and scruffy long ginger hair, was the picture of neglect. His old, smelly black t-shirt with holes and his dirty jeans made him even smaller in his tiny one-room flat of misfortune, and yet he kept all those memories to disguise an evidence board. The next post on it was written, "Norea's Sunday Park: Meet up with friends from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., depending on the weather."

Seth pushed his glasses up his nose bridge because, why not? Why can't a strong man have glasses? Then he looked outside at the sunshine, and his face suddenly frowned. He grabbed the note, dumped his bowl of cereal in the sink, and left.

He waited at the local park on this same bench until past lunchtime, the moment Norea appeared. She wasn't acquainted with him and only sat far away under an opposite tree with her friends. They were the same ones whom Seth squinted his eyes at before scribbling down their names in his notebook.

Yet he wasn't entirely unknown to them.

"The white freckly pedo is back, Norea!" That was one remark from her friend, and it just pushed for another to add.

"Doesn't he know by now that you're into pussies and not cucumbers?"

They both laughed, but not Norea. Her face scrunched into a grimace.

"You know what? It's my birthday in two days; I'll be eighteen, and I want this guy to leave me alone, so I'm going to talk to him right now and get it all out!" Her many mocking curt nods to her suggestion didn't convince her two friends, who only looked at each other, shocked. Norea didn't care; she just clicked her tongue at them and walked towards Seth.

"Hey you!"

Grabbing a newspaper next to him, Seth hid his face behind it, but she snatched it away.

"Yes, you. Can you stop harassing me, or I'll call the police on you?"

His face turned ashen, and he cleared his throat without being able to talk. "It's not what you think." Norea crossed her arms and knotted her eyebrows at him. "My name is Seth, and I'm not here to harass you but to protect you."

Letting out a grunt, Norea rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, how many times did you have to tell that shitty story to get into a girl's pants, Superman?" Seth shook his head at her reaction, but Norea wasn't done yet, and she leaned in. "Yeah, ignore me, but I'll call the police on you next time I'll see you around!"

As she was going back to her friends, he froze her, still on her steps, with this one remark. "Then you'll die on your eighteenth birthday; is that what you want?"

Biting on her lips, Norea turned around. "Fuck you, pedo!" With her middle finger raised at him, she slumped back under a tree between her two friends.

They didn't stay long at the park; the girls had a better plan—Norea's first night out in a club. With high heels clasped on their feet, a tight dress moulded to their bodies, and full make-up covering their faces, they were ready to go out and stay up all night. Arms knotted to the others, Norea giggled at jokes with her friends, but not the bouncer. He waved his finger at her.

She protested she would be eighteen in less than twenty-four hours, but he didn't listen to her and just shut the door on her after her sulking friends went in. Norea hung her head in defeat before walking to the first petrol station's toilet, where she wiped her face clean and changed her outfit for a black hoodie, jeans, and trainer. On her way out, though, she didn't expect to find Seth there, casually looking at some pot noodles on a shelf.

Grunting at him on her way out, Norea hit him on the shoulder.

She had warned him, after all.

There she was, back out again in the night, in the darkness, with only a few lampposts lighting up her way. She knew the path home since she was a child; she walked it up and down with her parents, then alone, and yet it had never seemed that long until today.

Crossing and uncrossing her arms like she ticked and unticked herself from an impending doom looming over her head, Norea couldn't stop throwing glances behind her shoulders as if to see if Seth was there or not. Then a rash of anxiety, a restlessness that came from not being in control of the moment, itched all over her body, and she bit her lip. Norea sped up her steps until she reached her safe home.

After opening the door and saying hello to her parents, Norea tucked her keys away, tossed her backpack into a corner, and peered over the dimly lit lounge. Her parents' shadow was there, curled up on the sofa, and the TV was on. Norea let out a heavy sigh and went to the kitchen. Turning on the light, she took some leftovers from the refrigerator to reheat them while telling her parents out loud about her disastrous new year eve.

While waiting for her food, she quickly poured herself a glass of water and then scrolled over the Instagram feed on her phone. There was a new post from Elaois making, this time the original recipe of Eden's apple pie, the food that will take away all your senses. She rolled her eyes at it as the microwave buzzed. She put her dinner on a platter and walked into the lounge, where she sank into her armchair.

As she took a sip of her drink, she spit it all out on the TV screen. How could she not have heard or noticed the static black-and-white noise from the kitchen? And why were her parents watching this nearly all night?

"Mom?" This word was the first on every child's lips. It's a synonym for comfort and love, but this time when it left Norea's mouth, a loud scream followed it.

Her parents were dead.

Norea dropped her platter to the floor and climbed over the top of her seat, tears streaming down her face. This couldn't be real, and yet they were both there, sitting on the couch with their throats sliced wide open and their heads nearly falling off their bodies. Her dad still had the remote control in his lifeless hand.

This is the material world; no one ever owns a thing.

The sliding window doors shattered in this instant, and an injured Seth appeared lying on the floor.