Lilith

4

If I show you, then I know you won't tell what I said, because two can't keep a secret is one of them is dead.

Lilith doesn't bother attempting to cover her bruises with concealer or foundation. Instead, she wears them around the house almost with a sense of pride.

She's alive. After seventeen years of torture, she's still alive.

Nowadays, Lilith isn't sure whether life is a curse or a blessing. She finds it harder for her to fall asleep. The same nightmares plague her dreams, and the same memories haunt her entire day.

Lilith can't seem to remember a time in her life where she was at true peace with herself or the world.

"End it." A voice in the back of her mind whispers. "End the pain, and it'll all be alright."

She knows that it won't be, because she still has duties she must fulfill, like caring for her mother... and... well, she can't think of anything else she's needed for.

"...but what about that boy?" She wonders to herself as she flings onto her worn out bed. "Than?" The name glides off of her tongue with a sense of familiarity. Though she had only just met him, she misses him. She misses his light-filled presence.

...and it hurts Lilith more, knowing that she won't ever see him again.

At the same time, she's glad he had managed to avoid her dark clutches. Than was too... genuine... to become involved with a girl as fake as herself. There were too many lies in her life, too many "coincidences", for example, the one where Lilith and her mother happened to escape from the ferocious killer that murdered her father.

Eva happened to walk out with nothing marring her skin, while Lilith was left with a broken rib and scratches clawing down her right eye.

"What happened that night?" Lilith faintly remembers the officer's stern voice. "Where were you?"

"I got caught in the crossfire." Lilith had replied as convincingly as possible. "The man attacked me, and my dad-" She didn't need to fake the crack of her voice, because what she felt was true. "My d-dad pushed me out of the way and took the bullet."

"Then, why were there bloody footsteps leading up the stairs?" Lilith found herself in a bind of lies and didn't reply, only kept her head down, tilted away from the accusing glances.

"Why was the gun found in your parent's room?"

"Why is your father dead?"

"...I-I don't know..." She had softly responded. "I-I..."

"Did you kill him?"

Lilith recalls nothing but silence.

Seconds fly.

Minutes pass.

Footsteps.

...Silence.

Then, the bang of a gunshot.

"You little bitch!" Samuel hoarsely screamed, gripping his hands around Lilith's throat. She began seeing floating stars flicker behind her eyelids as she started losing consciousness.

"P-please." Her legs dangled beneath her as he lifted her into a crushing embrace. "S-stop."

Samuel ignored her cries for help and continued tormenting her fragile body.

 "You made her like this! It's your damn fault!"

"S-stop." Lilith knew that her begs were worthless. After multiple years of this abuse, she would have thought she would be use to the constant attacks by now. Sadly, every night grew fiercer and angrier as her father's passionate emotions fueled.

A sudden scream from up the stairs shocked Samuel out of his rage. His grip on Lilith's body weakened, and she fell, stumbling painfully towards the ground.

The impact of her fall forced a whimper past her chapped, bloody lips. Old and new wounds from the cuts of Samuel's knife spilled out crimson liquid, infecting the beige carpet beneath her. She wrapped her lashed arms around her abdomen, watching the retreating back of her father rush up the stairs.

"N-no." Lilith mustered up the strength to stand to her feet. The pain buzzed through her entire form, weighing her down, but she attempted to ignore it. Her desire to protect her mother was far more important.

She remained only steps behind her father, dragging her weak body up the stairs and around the corner. Dread filled her mind, and fear crept into her soul, but she resisted the temptation to flee.

She didn't know how long it took for her to finally reach the door leading into her parent's room. Everything in the next few minutes passed by like a blur.

 "No."

The bang of a gunshot echoed throughout the home.

Eva's shivering body leaned almost lifelessly over the now dead corpse on the ground.

"What have you done?"

Samuel was dead, and Eva had shot him.