LILITH | DEAN WINCHESTER [ ✓ ]

28. my twenty one halloween

◖𓈈﹗ ﹙ chapter twenty-eight ﹚
❛ ▬▬ who's that girl? . . . ❜

"I remembered that as a child, I was a girl who was afraid of many things," she recalled. "The first fear she had was of the darkness because she knew that monsters lived there. The second fear she remembered was being separated from her mother. One or two days away from home were fine if she spent them playing with her preschool friends or being with Sam and Dean at Bobby's house, but by the third day, she would already be crying and calling for her mom because she missed her so much. Eventually, as she grew up, she calmed down and understood that there were worse things to fear, like death, which she still struggled to express her thoughts about. She held it in great respect, and it was, at the time, the catalyst for understanding people's devotion to religions and, indeed, understanding and empathizing with the reasons behind certain actions. Religion became intertwined in people's lives, generating various purposes: some needed it to find peace within themselves, others to dictate the behavior of the masses to serve their interests, and others to save a loved one. The latter was the case for Lilith Arduenn. The regard for her person created a canvas that she herself painted, and only sometimes did the divine and ethereal truth seize her hand, proclaiming how sensitive and concerned her intentions were towards the select friendships she wanted to protect. Sam and Dean earned her love over the years, and in recent months, they had already become part of her heart, willing to do everything possible to help them. Now Lilith was involved in their lives from a different perspective, separate from being the only true friend who knew the supernatural world but still leading a normal life. Lilith was that friend who had the knowledge to assist them, in a magical sense of the word. Witchcraft was the bet that Sam and Lilith hoped would work.

And it was the downfall of the young witch.

The knowledge that expanded Lilith's options regarding her life's path, granting her abilities that would be unreal for the rest of the population, unfortunately fell short when faced with new adversities. It was curious to see how Maslow's pyramid changed in the supernatural worldview; someone should create an entire theory about it. It was impressive how a seemingly ordinary young girl could suddenly ascend most of the hierarchies overnight because witchcraft could provide her with everything necessary to never shed another tear. But the problems grew worse, as if it were the cassette's B-side, and witchcraft alone was not enough to solve them. And the blame lay with knowledge, a new fear.

The clock sitting on her nightstand showed three-thirty in the morning, another hour had passed. She picked up her cell phone and opened the conversation with Sam, her eyes dry and her neck sore."

Sammy boy

Anything?

Lili

Nope

Let me tell you, Sam, this Ruby is a fake and lying bitch.

How are we going to save Dean?

Interesting. 

She says the same about you. 

And you and Dean say the same about her.

The only fake and lying bitch is her.And you're the idiot who trusts her. 

We've been friends since we were little enough to fit in a ball pit. 

Ruby "proved" she could earn your trust.But she doesn't say anything about how to save Dean.

 And we can help her.I can't stand her.

I don't trust her, she's the only option. 

We've been searching for something to go on since 7 o'clock. 

And now it's 3 and we've got nothing. We've been like this the whole week, Lilith.

I know.We'll find something.

Let's sleep, we'll continue tomorrow. 

Goodnight.

Goodnight. 

Oh, I forgot to tell you. When you're with Ruby, draw some blood from her.

 I want to do some experiments and make sure it doesn't clot.

A few months had passed in which Lilith and Sam raced against time and the limits of knowledge and magic, which created a rift between them. Best friends turned into strangers, their once genuine understanding that had been the essence of their friendship became fragile as the months went by. Lilith could barely tolerate some of Sam's ideas and the demon that intervened and spoke without providing many answers. She hated her! Although she wanted to appreciate her as an option to save Dean—and had put all her effort into it—Ruby's arrogant attitude, thinking she was so clever and the only one who could save Dean, didn't inspire even a shred of trust from Sam. He couldn't understand how his friend believed in her to a degree that bordered on insanity. Lilith empathized and put herself in Sam's shoes: his brother had sacrificed his life for him. The unique Winchester brotherhood embraced them in a world only they understood, the love for the noblest and most special family they knew. It was valid, reasons for Sam to feel restless and desperate. No one wanted to lose Dean. However, Lilith remained loyal to reason and didn't cling to any option that wasn't presented with a plan. Damn it! That cursed Ruby never said how she was supposed to save him! And yet, Sam expected the solution to come from Ruby, while Lilith wanted to find it with her own hands.

For months now—and she referred to when she was studying at the coven—demons had become relevant to her interests. The connection between Sam's demonic powers and now Dean's deal made the witch even more entwined in the legend. She had learned a lot about them. The vast majority of demons had once been humans, which meant there was a spiritual transformation, and by that, she meant the soul. Hell turned you into a demon by eradicating your humanity, corrupting the pillars that formed your identity, burning to ashes your cherished memories, forgetting about family. Sooner or later, Hell forced you to kneel. A new demon was born. That was Lilith's focus; she wanted Dean to go to Hell and become a demon. It sounded crazy, something neither Sam nor Dean would ever do, but for Lilith, it was the best plan. Once he became a demon and served his sentence, she would transform him back into a human. Although it sounded more romantic and genuine than it actually was, the reality was that she hadn't found a way to achieve that transformation yet. There wasn't a single book that provided any information supporting her hypotheses, not even her mentor's.

"That's impossible, my dear," Rowena said through the phone line. "I've never heard of anything like that, not even when I was a young student centuries ago."

"Couldn't we perform a spell?" Lilith asked, insisting. She just needed a push, a glimmer of hope.

"Lilith," Rowena sighed, "spells aren't that easy to perform, and you know it. If we could cast spells for everything we desired, witches would rule the world."

"So, nothing at all?"

"Let me see what I can find," Rowena's pitiful tone seemed to soften Lilith's heart. She could tell Lilith was truly desperate. "For what you want to do, you'll need to preserve the body as if it were in a coma. That can be done relatively easily. I've seen demons possess the bodies of people who had just died moments ago. But... transforming a demon into a human. I'm certain the soul must be involved."

"And the blood," Lilith added, "demon blood is part of the change or whatever it is. Just the fact that it's special blood, different from that of a witch, a human, or a monster. I know this because my friend, when he was a baby, drank the blood of a powerful demon who, after twenty-two years, gave him powers. When we tested his blood, it didn't show him as human; it turned darker, like demon blood. So yes, blood is an influential factor."

If Rowena helped by offering her extensive knowledge, Lilith felt she had reinforcements, that she was using all her possibilities, and she dared to say that what she was doing and planning to do was the greatest attempt anyone would ever make to save Dean. The throne on which she placed herself shone with rubies as red as blood and passion.

Months passed and things became even more difficult in the Winchester brothers' lives, but in Lilith Arduenn's life, they began to stabilize, to find a routine that was pleasant for mother and daughter. She continued to accompany her mother to the law firm and assist her from the role of secretary and daughter, enjoying being with her. She still had so much to learn from her mother that every moment they were together was etched in her memory like a magical seal. She was afraid of losing her again, and that horrible feeling haunted her, suffocating her, no matter how hard she tried to affirm her newfound strength from the witchcraft, from the beating she had unleashed at the coven using the blood of the yellow-eyed demon as a threat to the others. At night, a knot formed in her throat that made her get out of bed and retrieve the books hidden under her bed. She needed to be more powerful, stronger, smarter, cleverer, and—at the same time—she cursed herself for not being able to split herself into several pieces to attend to each of her interests. In high school, she learned through experience that the most innocent excesses were dangerous, and those of obvious nature were deadly. She only broke the rules to save her mother: just books and witchcraft, nothing more, and when she said "nothing more," it was a prohibition that encompassed any aspect of socializing, fun, her future, and love. But after emerging from that trance, she had to make up for what was lost, and she did so by striking a balance between witchcraft and normalcy, although she still hadn't admitted to her mother that she wasn't solely focused on helping Dean—there was no problem with that—but that she was also learning to perform new spells.

"Lilith, if you don't stay still, I can't do your eyeliner properly. Stay still!"

It was October 29th, her birthday was just two days away. She had been excited all month for the last few days, as the parties they threw were some of the best of the year. She always went to a club near the universities called La Esquina. For weeks, her mom had been making her costumes, one for tonight and another for her birthday in the early hours of Halloween. She was already dressed up as Pamela Anderson in Barb Wire, specifically the outfit from the iconic "Don't call me babe" scene. Mom was finishing up her makeup, and without a doubt, it was one of her best works.

"Is it done?" she asked, insisting and with excitement. "If Dean Winchester doesn't show up to be my Tommy Lee, I'm going to kill him."

Mom started laughing as she plugged in the curling iron and waited for it to heat up. She picked up some strands they had bought to add to the platinum blonde wig that Lilith needed to resemble the character in all her glory. Lilith was already blonde, but not at that level.

"Why Dean? I still don't understand how you convinced him, and secondly, why not Dorian? He would have played along with you."

She took some strands and started attaching them to the sides.

"Dean gave me the idea," she said without further explanation. She preferred to keep the real reasons to herself.

"Lilith..." Oh crap! The infamous tone: stop lying to me, I've known the truth for a while now. "Did you sleep with him, didn't you?"

"Oh well..." she gave up; she was going to find out one way or another. "Well, yes, I did, several times." There was nothing but silence. "What?"

"Nothing, I find it curious that you didn't tell me before. Are you aware that you're not being discreet at all? I've seen you two kissing in the kitchen, and I've heard the Impala disappear late at night. That car has a distinct sound, it's unmistakable. I had a feeling ever since I saw Dean interacting with you at the hospital, and oh... he doesn't look at you the same way he did before everything happened." Mom laughed as she created some messy waves in the wig and extensions. "And let's not even talk about Dorian's jealousy, that boy doesn't hide anything, haha. So what's going on between you all? And how did you handle the situation with Sam? Seriously now, you were with both brothers, that's not good. I understand that you didn't have sex with Sam, but still, you were boyfriend and girlfriend. Does Dean know? You can't just get involved with brothers; it won't end well, and you'll be the one who gets hurt. As much as Sam and Dean care about you, they're brothers first, before they're your friends. They won't fight over you; they'll cut you out of their lives if you cause a conflict."

"It's not like that, Mom. I would never cause a problem between Sam and Dean, and I wouldn't want them to fight over me or any woman. They would never do something like that, and honestly, I would be the one to step away first. But you could help me with this because..." This conversation was difficult for Lilith; she couldn't find the right words to express how she felt about Dean. "You know, um, Dean isn't aware that Sam and I were a couple."

"He doesn't know? Does Sam know about the two of you?"

"Yes, Sam knows," she clarified before her mother burned her head with the curling iron. "We've talked about it, and there's no drama, and there shouldn't be any. He broke up with me because he wasn't in love, and I wasn't either. Should Dean really know? It's a closed chapter, and besides, Dean and I only slept together; we don't involve emotions. I don't see Dean wanting anything serious with me or anyone, and I wouldn't want anything serious with him because, first of all, I don't like him, and secondly, it would be a complete disaster. I'm done with that."

"Oh, my daughter, you're a bit blind. Did he tell you that he doesn't feel anything for you?"

Lilith turned her head back and looked at her mother.

"Not explicitly, but we're talking about Dean Winchester," she emphasized his name, raising her Pamela Anderson-like eyebrows. "His longest relationship was two weeks, and from what Sam gossiped, it wasn't that serious. Just serious enough for Dean to tell her he's a monster hunter, and the girl kicked him out of her house. That must have traumatized him; he never did it again."

"I know what Dean is like. I saw with my own eyes how he used to love flirting with girls when he was younger. But I'm speaking from experience and from what he shows when you're not looking. Pay more attention to what he does and then draw your own conclusions: he comes home more often, when he was always the boy who said 'I want to go hunting with dad, I'm ready. It's stupid for me to stay in this house doing nothing.' There's a change in his attitude whenever something related to Dorian happens. He looks at you a lot, and," Mom burst into laughter, "he smells like you. I was organizing some papers when Sam passed by and said to him, 'Brother, why the hell do you smell so much like Lilith?' Before he went to take a shower, I approached to confirm it, and baby, he does. I know you, and I know you're not interested in Dean. You just want to be his friend and sleep with him, which is fine. But make it clear to him what the boundaries are and what you want, because one day you'll wake up and realize you made a mistake. Dean is a good man, he truly is, but he's a hunter, and you, being a witch, and him being a hunter, will bring more problems than happiness. And I want you to have a peaceful life, where you don't have to suffer because of a relationship that you knew from the beginning would end badly. Right, my love?"

"Yes, I understand," Lilith said honestly. "I insist, I don't feel anything for Dean other than the friendship we have, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way. But I'll listen to your advice, and I'll talk to both of them. I'll set boundaries with Dean. You're right, Mom, it's better for everyone, and we'll keep our friendship intact, which is what matters most to me."

"I'm done," Lilith walked over her bed, which was filled with makeup, hair spray, scissors, clothes, fake hair, and a silicone bra that she didn't end up using. "Oh my God!" she burst out laughing. "Lilith, isn't this too much?"

"Naaaah, these days are the only ones when you can go all out like a complete slut, and none of the other girls say anything or look down on you. I love it!"

Her costume went up to the top of her entire life, it was just wonderful and she looked totally sexy in front of the mirror. The high heeled black leather boots, the fishnet stockings and the bodysuit mom had tailored so she could breathe properly despite the corset, but she had the tight cups that lifted her breasts up to the nape of her neck. Lilith smiled in amusement, turning in the mirror and looking at how it highlighted her ass which she had been working on for months. The next thing she did was to take pictures as she did every year, for the purposes of the costume she imitated several of Pamela's poses and they were laughing for the next hour: she took some on top of the motorcycle pointing guns, some in the archway that divided the living room from the dining room, on the stairs, and some less sexy ones with her mom.

"Look at this!" While Lilith poured them both glasses of wine, her mother was laughing hysterically at several of the photographs. "Which one do you like the most for the album?" Since the day she was born, her mom had a photo album exclusively for the month of Halloween, and I mean that quite literally. On that very day, as a newborn, her grandmother dressed her in a handmade crab costume because her face was red, and it matched wonderfully. She took a couple of pictures, bought an album, and gave it to her mom as a gift. It became a tradition that was only broken last year. Mom didn't say anything, but she left two blank pages and started pasting on the following ones.

"This one, because I look friendlier, and it's not just my rear end stealing the show," she chose the one that focused on her face, still maintaining a sexy expression, and part of her bust was visible, but it was aesthetically pleasing. They took a sip of wine simultaneously.

That's when she heard the Impala parking in their garage.

"Oh, they're here!" By that time of the night, she had thought Dean stood her up. She rushed to the door and eagerly waited until she heard the sound of the doorbell and opened it. "Hey, guys."

"Why are you dressed up? It's not Halloween yet," Sam said with a playful smile.

"Lilith, get inside, there are children in the neighborhood," called Mom, and the young ones went inside.

"Wow," Dean's attention was completely captured by Lilith, even making her brother uncomfortable. His green eyes focused on every detail of her body, passing through her face and lingering on her hips. "You really look like her, i mean, your face."

"I know" with all the makeup, contouring and the odd trick mom knew, they managed to transform her face looking more like Pamela's than her own. "I'm wearing like ten layers of makeup, it's weighing my face down, but it's so much fun, come on!" Lilith grabbed Dean's hand with magic and her own hand and dragged him running up the stairs.

"No no no, Lilith I'm going to set some conditions" he said as she pulled him into his room and closed the door. Dean looked at the mess of stuff she had and guessed it wouldn't be a costume just like that.

"Here's my deal: you let me dress you up exactly the way I want, we take some pictures and then you take me to a party, which you don't have to attend, so I release you and then if you want we can have sex. how about it?"

Dean seemed to think about it more seriously. "I don't like it" he sat down on the edge of the bed. "What does this costume consist of?"

"Fake tattoos, makeup, a wig" the more he named, the more he disliked it. "I have some brown eye contacts, but with all of the above it's fine. vamoooos! It's just so you can take some pictures with me, pleaseoooooooor."

"Fine, but I'm going with you to that party. I don't care if it's full of stupid drug-addicted twenty-year-olds listening to the garbage music that's in fashion. And afterwards, we go wherever you want and film ourselves having sex, just like you promised. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, we have a deal."

Lilith was having a lot of fun transforming Dean into a 90s heavy metal band drummer, something the witch assured her she would have refused or needed to be convinced with money if it had been any other genre she didn't like. She endured complaints from the hunter as she applied the fake tattoos, spent an hour and a half chasing him around the room to put on the jet-black wig, and finally begged him to be patient while she outlined his eyes.

"I don't know if you're aware of how ridiculously sexy you look right now. I would have sex with you this very instant if I didn't worry about ruining my whole costume. It took me like five hours," Lilith blurted out, unable to hold back any longer, as she finished applying some black eyeshadow beneath his eyelid. She had been resisting the urge to tell him for a long time. "The black hair with your green eyes and the eyeliner, god, Dean, you're turning me on." It didn't help her at all to be sitting on top of him, feeling a heavy bulge growing against her pelvis.

Dean, whose hands were resting on the young woman's waist, pushed her back slightly to get a better look at her face. Lilith wasn't one to give him many compliments, especially related to sex. It was usually him who praised her more, so he understood her surprise and the smile that appeared. Lilith laughed.

"I'm not an object," she joked. "I feel like Sam with this," she shook her head, and both burst into laughter. The length of the wig was indeed the same. "I can't believe I agreed to do this."

Once they finished, Lilith had to bring him a beer to loosen him up and pose more naturally in the photographs. But at the end of the day, Dean ended up indulging her and taking the pictures she wanted, many of which genuinely aroused both of them. Their polaroid camera captured several shots of them kissing on the floor, Dean's hands gripping her buttocks, and Lilith running her tongue across his torso. The night had passed by for Lilith, and she didn't care until she received a message and realized she would miss the party.

Mandy

Heeeey!

tomorrow can i go to your house with a friend?
sent at 23:48 p.m

Lilith

yeah, sure. who is it?

Maria Galilea, the girl who came from a christian comunity. She needs to learn about the world, you don't know how many things she didn't know.

She never listened to a Britney song

noooo

tráela, necesita salir.

bring her in, she needs to go out.

"Dean, come on, it's almost midnight," she said as they walked out into the hallway. His mother was heading straight towards his room.

"I was just about to ask when you were leaving," he intercepted her and adjusted her wig slightly, giving her a suspicious look. He wondered how mothers managed to notice almost everything. "Don't do anything stupid, have fun," he kissed her cheek. "You look great, Dean."

They jumped into the Impala before Sam could make a joke about Dean. Lilith was quick and attentive to prevent it. The excitement was bubbling up inside her, the witch was blissfully ignorant of the signals the hunter was sending through his body language as he drove towards the club. She had turned on the radio, searching for a station that wasn't playing rock or metal music. Normally, she had no issue and accepted the rule of "my car, my music," but she was really in the mood for something modern and energetic.

"When the sun shines, we'll shine together. Told you I'll be here forever," Lilith, being the young girl she was, began to sing Rihanna's hit song. "Said I'll always be your friend. Took an oath, I'ma stick it out 'til the end." Now that it's raining more than ever, know that we'll still have each other. You can stand under my umbrella.

"Not in my car, beautiful," he said, turning off the radio and resuming his peculiar pose. When Dean drove, one could tell how much he loved the purr of the engine, the wheels gliding on the road. And when he pressed the accelerator, he smiled like a child. But this time, he was tense, his hands gripping the steering wheel, his stern gaze fixed solely on the road.

"Do you know they'll be playing that song at the club?" she asked. "It's one of the biggest hits of the year... Dean, you don't have to come, really. I don't want to force you to listen to music you hate, and frankly, I can't imagine you at any of the parties I go to," she said, hoping to elicit some reaction, but all she managed was to make his jaw tense even more. "The song by Bob Seger, 'Old Time Rock & Roll'? It was made for you. It could be the soundtrack of your life, your leitmotif, or your..."

"Yeah, yeah, I got the point," his response was curt, not of a violent nature, rather, exasperated.

"What's wrong with you? Weren't we in the same mood just a moment ago?" she asked. Had they been in the same mood, or had she misunderstood everything? Now she felt pathetic and selfish, maybe she had forced him into something he didn't want. But this was Dean Winchester she was talking to. The only obligations he accepted were those of his father. He wasn't a puppet and he always did as he pleased, without limits. Damn, she was so confused. "Dean, you don't have to do all of this, really. I want to have sex with you, and I made you a promise, but first, I want to go dancing. I have a very open mind, and it would really fuck me up to make you have a shitty night because, honestly, it's everything you hate: modern music, crowded people, LED lights, drugs, and cigarettes. It's not your kind of bar scene. And... you know... with your... I don't want you to waste your time on this."

He ignored her completely as he parked the Impala a few blocks away from the club, but as soon as he turned off the engine and looked into her eyes, he deigned to speak.

"Do you think I did everything you asked for sex?" Oh shit, he had fired off his thought like a gunshot, a blow too strong for Lilith. She had no idea how to interpret his words and expression. Dean's face was a mix of anger and restraint, on the edge— "Lilith? Just sex?"

She remained silent, petrified in her place. The speed at which her thoughts raced was not enough for the real time passing between them. Dean demanded an answer, but Lilith lacked a hundred pieces of information to give him what he wanted. She decided to follow her mother's advice, thus taking control of the conversation.

"Honestly, I don't understand what you mean, and it seems detestable to make an erroneous assumption, so I'll say that—" She observed him, scrutinizing him just as her mother had told her to do— "We both know what we want from each other, and I think that's fine, but (and this is my point of view), it's more important to maintain the friendship and if..." It was hard for her not to insert the word "feelings," she didn't want to do it— "What I mean is, if something in the present or future threatens to break that, we should draw the line there. Right?"

"Why are you talking to me as if you were giving a presentation at school? And worse, a presentation to children. I'm not stupid, Lilith, and you took the wrong road. I'm not an idiot who's already in love just because of a few extra kisses. That's ridiculous, and it's even more stupid that I'm saying it."

"So, you know the limit then?"

"Is it really necessary?" he retorted. Lilith interpreted his tone as emphasizing that he was asking stupid questions, childish questions, but for her, it was important that he understood the limit.

"Is it?" This situation was so confusing. "Wasn't it understood from the beginning?"

"Yes."

Lilith wouldn't let the hunter's sudden bad mood ruin one of her long-awaited nights. She entered one of the best clubs in Massachusetts. It was a massive two-story place with a bar running from north to south for people to order drinks. There were several sofas where people were already kissing as if they were in the intimacy of a bedroom. The music reverberated off the walls to the beat of 50 Cent, and the lights transported those who had drugs in their bodies to wonderland. This was everything her young body desired. She missed going out to dance and drink. She was about to turn twenty-one, who could blame her?

"I'm into havin' sex, I ain't into makin' love. So come give me a hug if you into getting rubbed," Lilith sang, heading towards the bar. She glanced back to confirm that Dean was following her, paying no attention to anything except a group of girls dressed as Playboy bunnies. Lilith wouldn't question anymore what the hell had driven him to come to a club. "Are we going to split up or something?"

"What?" The music drowned out his words, so she leaned in closer to hear him.

"I said, are we going to go our separate ways? I'm going to get a drink and head to the dance floor. You do whatever you want."

The response didn't come because a woman dressed as Catwoman approached Dean with a flirtatious smile that didn't go unnoticed.

"Hello," she said, and as soon as she noticed Lilith was there, her face turned apologetic. "I'm sorry, I thought..."

"He's single."

"I'm single," he said almost at the same time as Lilith.

The bartender took their order, and then Lilith disappeared from Dean's sight, and he disappeared from hers. They definitely had one of the strangest relationships, but somehow it worked. If Dean considered himself a person free from chains, the young woman took it twice as personally and spiritually.

Lilith had never had many friends. In fact, she was one of those people who held the word "friendship" in high esteem, not allowing just anyone to claim the title. This made most of her life a struggle to connect with others, apart from Sam, of course. She considered her mother to be her best friend. However, it was easier for her to be the one everyone invited to go out and party because she had an unconditional love for music and dance. She enjoyed drinking and singing, dancing with everyone and being able to endure until dawn. And it was evident on her face how she smiled in the most ethereal and genuine way, with her eyes squinting and her crooked teeth showing. Her body moved energetically to the rhythm of Shakira's music and the hit single "Hips Don't Lie" that had conquered the United States the previous year. She engaged in a drunken conversation with a couple of friends from Cuba. The girl, Marina, was about twenty-five years old and dressed as an Egyptian dancer, while her friend, who couldn't stop smoking weed, wore a simple Hawaiian shirt—he didn't put much effort into his costume. But what he lacked in Halloween enthusiasm, he made up for in charm and being the life of the party. The young witch spoke fluent Spanish. She had attended classes in school, as well as extracurricular ones since she was a child.

In one corner, Lilith was with the people she had met, giving her all as they danced to Shakira, creating a separate atmosphere from the rest of the groups. Most people were leaving with their respective flings to hook up or were squeezing into corners, kissing and touching. It was that time when the party was dying down, but Lilith still had energy to continue enjoying the music. You could see it in every feature of her face, in how she moved her hips and her behind.

"Uno, dos, tres, cuatro!" they shouted. "Baila en la calle de noche, baila en la calle de día. Baila en la calle de noche, baila en la calle de día."

Marina danced like a professional, feeling the Latin power. She was such a joyful and different woman compared to the rest of the Americans. That was a fact. Americans were colder and more reserved, and it wasn't common for them to integrate into an established group as naturally as they had done with Lilith, welcoming her and dancing with her without ulterior motives or because any of the men there wanted to hook up with her. Lilith and Marina danced together—Marina had a boyfriend, and Lilith had almost cried because she couldn't flirt with her—they laughed and shared drinks with the others.

Dean had no information. They had crossed paths a couple of times, and he always asked her if they could leave yet, and Lilith would respond with "later." It continued like that until she told him she was going out for some fresh air, and since then, she thought she had caught glimpses of him out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't until the place emptied out a bit that Dean reached her.

"You've been looking for me for a whole hour," he said. "Can we go now?"

"Fiinee," she replied. She was tired and could use some fresh air.

She said goodbye to the group of friends, inviting them to her birthday party at "El Patio Trasero," a venue with the perfect aesthetic for the theme she had chosen. They left, with Dean making his way through the crowd, and once he breathed in the freshness of the night, she shivered at the sudden change in temperature. It was five in the morning in October, and her scanty clothing wasn't enough to keep her warm. Lilith got into the Impala and realized that when Dean disappeared, it was because he had gone back to his car. The wig was lying on the back seat, along with a bag of fast food and a couple of beers. Led Zeppelin was playing on the radio as soon as he started the engine.

She started laughing uncontrollably.

"What?" he asked, glancing at her. "What's so funny?"

"What did you do after we split up?"

"Do you want to know the truth?" Lilith nodded, still laughing. "Well... I had to eat my own words. I thought you were exaggerating when you said that this," he gestured to his entire body, "would attract more girls than usual..."

"Haha, I told you so."

"Yeah, well, I could only handle two hours of that horrible music, and then I got hungry, so I went to eat, and I spent the next few hours waiting for you."

"I thought you were with the girl from earlier."

"That didn't work out so well. I'm twenty-eight years old, and there are certain things I no longer feel like dealing with."

Lilith looked away so Dean wouldn't see her mocking expression. Sometimes he took himself too seriously for what he should really expect. She knew that Dean's looks attracted both girls and guys; he was a very handsome man. But (based on the number of times she saw him flirt or talk about the girls he slept with), it only worked one way: a one-night stand. It was hard for him to open up enough even for a friendship. He even claimed that they wouldn't be friends if it weren't for the various family ties that had bound them since childhood. Their parents had known each other since youth, and his mother had taken care of them in her home, which forced them to spend time together. If they had met in a bar or by chance, they wouldn't treat each other the way they did now. They were different, with very different perspectives, and thanks to the trust they had built, they learned to tolerate each other's actions. Lilith didn't like how he detested anything that didn't fit into his masculine agenda, and he probably didn't like her nerdier side. But the truth was, they had a cultivated friendship. They had something strange between them. After all, not just anyone would record themselves having sex.

They ended up in bed in the Impala, under some yellowish lights and on a desolate street.

"That was amazing," Dean said, holding the woman's body against his chest, wrapping his arms around her, and breathing heavily. He agreed, he knew how to push her to climax, and he did it wonderfully. "Are you okay?"

He moved back to the passenger seat and started getting dressed again, yawning and moving slowly and lazily.

"I'm tired. I want to go to bed and sleep," she replied, taking the camera and putting it in her bag. "I want to shower and put on my pajamas. Sex makes me sleepy," she chuckled.

Dean understood and didn't take long to get home. Both of them were very tired after the exhausting night. The witch thought Dean would continue to the room he shared with Sam, but instead, he entered Lilith's room behind her.

"What?" she said defensively in response to the young woman's questioning gaze. "I want to shower too. We can do it together."

"No, I need privacy, so go shower in the other bathroom, but come back afterward because the makeup I put on you doesn't come off with just water."

With the sky changing the dark night to the navy blue of dawn, Lilith emerged from the bathroom wearing a bubblegum pink pajama, and she was visibly surprised to see the hunter already in his pajamas, lying in her bed with the camera playing the sex video they had made... damn, she was so tired that she couldn't even think clearly.

"You know, we should be porn actors. We would make good money," he said.

Lilith burst into a silent laughter. He... god, he was just himself and his nonsense. With her magic, she took the camera, rejecting the curiosity to see herself. She would take a look tomorrow. For now, she poured makeup remover onto a cotton pad and wiped away the remaining black makeup around her eyes. Dean had longer eyelashes than hers, how envious.

"I still can't understand why you decided to come. Tell meeee."

She wasn't joking; she had been trying to figure out the reason. In the mental list she had concocted, she entertained the most absurd theories in the absence of solid evidence. She thought it might be because of the girls at first, but he himself said it wasn't his favorite place to find the kind of girls he liked. She thought maybe the past few months played an important part, but she knew he wouldn't waste it on this. The theory of it being just for sex and recording was refuted; it wasn't the reason. After removing her makeup, she took the opportunity to apply moisturizer to her dry face. She hadn't even noticed. Dean was tired too; he felt himself drifting off to sleep. Poor guy, he had endured a lot of music he disliked... damn it. Lilith looked into his eyes, searching for the truth that would never be told to her. She knew him; he was keeping it to himself or at least trying not to reveal his true intentions. All Lilith could think about was that he had done it for her, maybe because of everything she had done for him in the past few months. She remembered how happy he was on her birthday; the gifts he gave her brightened up the tough week they had gone through because of Sam (or rather, Meg).

"Are you done?" she asked. "My face feels sticky, ew."

Without saying anything else, Dean lay down beneath the covers, getting comfortable in his bed. When did they agree to sleep together? Should she kick him out of her room? Was it crossing boundaries? But he knew the boundaries; he had made that clear. Did she want him to leave? Lilith didn't care, as long as neither of them redefined something as simple as sleeping in the same bed. It was all about meaning and feelings, right? She had already slept with Dean in the same bed, so what was the difference between a dirty motel bed and her own bed? Except that her bed was much more comfortable, prettier, cleaner, smelled like lavender, and, of course, it was the bed of her entire life.

The awakening of the young witch occurred in a gradual movement around the bed, her muscles barely awakening while her brain was still asleep. However, the habit of waking up alone in her bed made her forget the boundaries that Dean's presence was imposing on her. It wasn't until the hunter's awake lips landed on hers and his hands eagerly grasped her waist, enclosing her beneath him, that she decided to play along, returning the daring kisses and positioning her legs in a way that quickened her heart. But soon Lilith remembered that it was Tuesday, and judging by the powerful and luminous rays entering through the window, it was no longer morning or noon. It was the afternoon!

"Damn it!" she exclaimed, jumping out of bed and frantically searching for her cell phone. It wasn't on her bedside table, nor on her desk, nor in the bathroom. She left her room and crossed the hallway to her mother's room. "Oh no! She had gone to work without her."

"Hey," Dean arrived behind her, still barely awake and adjusting to Lilith's desperation. "Sam told me he accompanied Regina to work. Here, you can call him with mine." He handed her his phone, which she quickly accepted, and left her alone. Perhaps she was acting like a traumatized lunatic, but she had plenty of reasons to justify her actions. Whether it was right or wrong, or the amount of trust she placed in taking care of her mother herself, would only be judged by Lilith and no one else. She knew what she was doing, she knew what had happened, and she would never want it to happen again. She wouldn't allow it. Her mom might be very strong in certain things, and she appreciated the confidence her mother had in her, but if the witches kidnapped her once, they could do it again.

"Dean? Is Lilith awake? Tell her to check my messages."

"It's me," Lilith tried not to sound desperate. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down because she felt like she would end up crying. "Is my mom there?"

"Oh, hi, Lilith. I decided to accompany her. You were sound asleep and seemed tired. I've been helping her all morning. Do you want me to pass her the phone?"

"Yes, please."

"Hi, baby," her mom greeted her. Hearing her voice completely calmed Lilith down; it seemed exaggerated how bad she felt about herself. "How was your night?"

"Why didn't you wake me up for work?" she questioned instead of answering; the desire to tell her how well she had enjoyed herself vanished. "I can function on two hours of sleep or sleep there in the office, it doesn't matter. You should have woken me up so I could accompany you."

"And with what energy would you have celebrated your birthday party tonight? You've been waiting for this party for years; you needed rest. I can take care of myself just fine, don't be silly," Lilith thought differently; her mom couldn't take care of herself properly, maybe she could with other humans, but the others were witches. "I made some chocolate cookies; they're in the oven. You can have a couple, but they're for your breakfast tomorrow, so don't eat them all."

"When are you coming back?"

"I'll leave two hours early and help you get ready. Stop being dramatic; it's not a big deal."

Lies.

"Okay, have you seen my cell phone?"

"Yes, I found it lying outside; I left it in the kitchen. See you later."

After talking to her mom, she felt much better, although the anger of the moment would linger for a while longer, or maybe less than she estimated, because as she walked out and returned to her bedroom's bathroom, she found Dean touching his face in front of the mirror, looking amazed at his reflection.

"I'm a natural treasure," he said, running his fingertips over his cheek as if it were cotton. "Touch my face; it's super smooth. I was born this amazing."

She smiled and couldn't ruin his fantasy.

Dean and Lilith sat down to have breakfast, eating a couple of cookies (she had to make Dean promise not to eat them all) and drinking some coffee while the news captured the hunter's attention and the witch attended to unread messages.

Sammy boy

 I'm going with your mom to work. I know how much you worry about her safety, and honestly, you looked really tired. 

Send me a message when you wake up; we need to talk about the deal. 

Mommy 

Sweetheart, I went to work. 

Rest. 

Mandy 

Are you alive, 

bitch? 

Lilith? 

Lilith????

 I'm going with Galileaaaaa I messaged your mom, and she said you were in the fifth dream hahaha. 

If you're not there to open the door, I'll open it with magic. I'll be there in five. 

Dorian

 Good morning :) 

I have the best costume for tonight; it'll be a surprise, but you'll love it.

And I have the drugs. 

Are you sure? These ones hit hard; they're popular among the rich.

The doorbell rang. Lilith quickly finished her coffee and opened the door. There stood Mandy, wearing a long, vibrant red coat, and next to her was Maria Galilea. The girl was of average height, shorter than both Lilith and Mandy. She observed Lilith with intense brown eyes that matched her short wavy hair, causing an immediate sense of tenderness in Lilith. It didn't take an expert to realize that this girl not only had the face of an angel but also was shy and kind-hearted.

"Lilith!" exclaimed Mandy, giving her a tight hug. "I can't wait for tonight. Let's go, Gali." She almost pushed Galilea inside. "Lilith, Maria Galilea. Gali, this is the famous Lilith Arduenn."

"Hello, nice to meet you," Lilith greeted with a smile, hoping for the same in return.

"Hi, thanks for letting me come. Mandy almost dragged me here without letting you know," she said. She was the kind of person who smiled with her eyes, a sign of her sincere and transparent soul.

"You!?" Dean approached from the kitchen as if he were about to attack a monster, heading towards Galilea, who recoiled in fear. "Aren't you the girl from that strange Christian community? The one who didn't speak?"

"Behave, Dean, you're scaring her," Lilith intervened before things got out of control. She took hold of his shoulder and prevented him from advancing any further. By that point, Mandy stepped forward, supporting Galilea.

"Explain," Lilith demanded.

"Sam and I had a case in Chicago a few months ago. It was one of those weird ones. First, we followed the trail of a Wendigo in the northern forests. We went there and found tracks, and by tracks, I mean charred corpses, dragged kilometers from their homes. Their home was a terrifying community, and she was a part of it. We found it strange that the only deaths were of people from there; we knew it because of a tattoo they had on their feet. So we started investigating, but we didn't get anywhere because those people didn't say anything. We gave up and focused on finding the Wendigo, and we found it in the South! Yeah, weird... Then we came here, and Sam found out about the Asneg witches, and we definitely saw those tracks in the community. So we left again, but there was no community anymore, just ashes and people rebuilding. By the way, there was an Asneg witch sucking their happiness."

"Uncontrolled magic," Mandy defended, and Lilith was familiar with that term: it meant that a natural witch suffered from an emotional overflow that caused the uncontrollable manifestation of magic. "And honestly, considering what they did to her, burning the community was a generous act. She could have killed them all, but she didn't," Mandy looked at Galilea, who seemed even worse after she said that. "What? It's true. You didn't know you were a witch and what you were capable of. They were lucky."

"One moment," the hunter was even more lost than before in the narrative. "Did you kill the people in your community?"

"It was the magic, it was never my intention."

"Alright, enough," Lilith wanted Galilea to feel safe in her house, and to do that, she had to show it. "Are you going to have trouble living with other witches? I thought you had overcome that nonsense. You're very welcome to leave, Dean."

Indignant, he raised his eyebrows and let out a dry laugh. "Why do you always think the worst of me? Forget it, Lilith. I know the answer. You know, you think you're so clever, but sometimes you're incredibly stupid," Despite Lilith's intentions to finish what they had started, Dean grabbed the newspaper from the countertop and made his way to the stairs.

"Wow! That escalated quickly. What's your problem?"

"Your attitude!" he shouted. "I don't have many months left. You could be more considerate."

And then, she heard the door close, signaling that she shouldn't talk to him for the next few hours. It was for the best; they would be shouting horrible things at each other, and she didn't even know how or why they had fought. The girls held their bags in the most uncomfortable position possible.

"He's not a troublemaker, he's a good man. Mandy knows him. There's no danger around him," Lilith justified Galilea's fear and tried to encourage Mandy to support her.

"That's true," Mandy added. "So... are you ready?"

The three witches sat down on the couches. Lilith offered them something to drink and a couple of snacks.

"Of course, well, I think so. Dorian took care of almost everything and paid for it. He hired an event planner, and all I had to do was give her my vision and a detailed list of things I wanted, like playing all the major hits of Queen Madonna. I can't wait! I swear, I want to start getting ready now," Lilith couldn't hide her excitement. "But before that, I want to know more about you, Galilea. I love your name; it's super cool."

"Thank you," Galilea said shyly. "I like yours too, very biblical like mine. Although if they named a baby Lilith in my community, they would sacrifice her. It's not a suitable name for a woman; they would take Lilith as an example instead of Eve."

"Gali, you can start by telling her something lighter, try from when you suspected that something was wrong with you. It's funny," Mandy said.

"Well," she became nervous. "I thought I was possessed. Mandy started laughing."I began to notice it when my body was in constant pain, intense muscle aches, fatigue, my head felt like it was about to explode. They tried to cure me using their methods and medications, of course, but it didn't improve, and they started to think it was something different. I started to think so too. I grew up in a Christian community with strong values, extreme in certain aspects, you can imagine. I was put in isolation as soon as my pain turned me into a deranged being."

"We already talked about it, Gali. Your actions were perfectly normal. Trust me, anyone else would react the same way to such intense pain, and they wouldn't think of demons," Mandy became serious for a moment. Lilith could see that she had already done some work in comforting her and explaining a different perspective on life. She could understand it. She had grown up under the same religion, but she was fortunate to experience a more normal spectrum.

"Yes, you're right. Then comes the part I don't like to remember. Long story short, I dreamed of how those people died, and when I woke up, they were gone. The FBI agents came to the community, well, the hunters. Everything got worse for me. I thought I was turning into a monster, and the isolation was driving me crazy... Anyway, when Pandora came to get me after I burned the entire community, I understood what was happening, and I was really scared of being a witch."

"It wasn't that bad in the end, was it?" Mandy asked, smiling. "You just swapped one cult for another," she joked.

"You have a really interesting story. Mandy told me that you don't know much about pop culture. Why is that? Didn't you have a television?"

"No," she denied, somewhat ambivalent. "I had certain restrictions; the information that came from the outside wasn't good. Mandy said it was distorted. I've been told that the popular music is music for prostitutes."

Mandy and Lilith burst into laughter.

"You have a lot to learn."

• • ⛧ • •

As the sun set, the three witches locked themselves in Lilith's room, listening to the songs of Lilith and Mandy's favorite artists, sharing their tastes with Galilea, who seemed excited every time one of them told her a bit about the careers and scandals of the artists. Mom had arrived earlier, as promised. Sam, on the other hand, approached Lilith's room to talk to her alone for a moment; he was also surprised to see Galilea in the house.

"What's going on, Sam?"

Lilith was halfway through dressing up. She had put on a platinum wig with black streaks and braids tied to the sides of her face. She had already done her makeup, which consisted of a deliberately smudged black smoky eye, soft almost flesh-colored lips, and a piercing on the side of her nose and another under her lip. She put a lot of effort into her costumes.

"I know what you're trying to do." Both of them had very different emotions: Lilith was very happy, while Sam was doing his best to remain calm. "I read some notes of yours that were on your desk."

"You snooped through my things without permission?" she countered, annoyed.

"I know, but..." Sam knew what he did was wrong. "We've been looking for options for months, you and I, hours and hours of research from morning till late at night. Why didn't you tell me you were working on this? How much more have you done?"

"It's not easy, Sam," she murmured so as not to alert the others. "I don't want to give you false hope, not to you and especially not to Dean. I thought you wouldn't like my option, that you would throw it in my face because it's too horrible. I wanted to find another option; I would even prefer Ruby to save him."

"Do you have more?" he asked calmly, which impressed her. "Lilith, time is running out for us. I'm open to any option; I don't care as long as Dean is with us... I can convince him."

" I don't know how much you've read, but I don't have much. I'm getting help from my mentor. The big problem is that I don't know how to turn it into a human. Taking it out might be easier with an invocation ritual or the riskier option: opening the door again. Making it human is still a mystery to me. I know that blood and soul are involved and they are the most important parts. I have a thirty-page project written on my laptop, that's all I have. You can read it if you promise me that you won't say a word to Ruby, not a single word. Please."

Lilith would have preferred if the inconveniences demonstrated by Sam physically were a joke.

"Alright, I promise," she said. She decided to trust him. Like all friendships, they had their ups and downs. The difference was that they aimed to improve and reconcile their differences.

After returning to her room and handing him her laptop, she found her mom applying a bit of color to Galilea's cheeks, and Mandy painting her nails red. They were going to dress up as an angel and Michael Jackson, respectively, while Lilith was going as Christina Aguilera in the "Dirrty" music video. Her desire to dress like that had started when she was sixteen, but her mom almost killed her and told her that she could go around with her butt exposed only when she turned twenty-one, no earlier. Her moment had finally arrived.

"I'm going to change now! I can't wait any longer."

She went to her closet and immediately put on the black and white striped corset, followed by the black and red (if you could call it that) pants that exposed her entire butt and thighs. It was held up by a black belt, and on the left side, it had the number 72 embroidered, while the right side said "XTINA." Her butt was covered by cheeky underwear, which also had an embroidered 'x' on the back. Her mom had done a great job making it. Lilith loved it when her mom made her costumes because they were of high quality and identical. She was the best.

She couldn't contain her excitement for much longer.

"If you ain't dirrty, you ain't here to party!" she exclaimed enthusiastically to the girls. "Paid my dues, in the mood, me and my girls gonna shake the room," she sang while moving her hips and butt.

"Lilith!" Mandy cheered. "Go for it, girl!"

"Hurry up, we need to be there an hour early to make sure everything is in place. I'm dying to see how everything turned out."

They took a couple of photos in the yard, some snapshots that mom added to the Halloween album.

"Is this your first Halloween, Galilea?" mom asked, adjusting the golden crown on her hair. She truly was an angel fallen to earth. Not only Lilith noticed it, but Sam also lingered a few seconds longer when he went to get a glass of water to continue reading the document and, of course, have a long night of research.

"Yes," Galilea replied shyly. "I've never celebrated it before. I'm excited."

"And it's her first party!" Mandy added, doing a little dance. "You're going to have a lot of fun, believe me."

"Are you ready? Do you need anything?" Her mom was always attentive. The three shook their heads. She approached her daughter and hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead. "Well then, have fun. I'll be waiting for you when you come back with a breakfast that will cure your hangover and hunger."

Lilith loved her mom. She was the best of all. She climbed the stairs and walked to the brothers' room. She needed Sam to drive them. Originally, she would have asked Dean, but seeing that they were not in a good mood (he wasn't because Lilith wasn't angry), she had to resort to the second option. She knocked three times, and Dean opened the door with slightly sleepy eyes.

"What are you supposed to be?" He wasn't discreet in looking at her chest and the rest of her naked body. "You look hot anyway. I like this better than Pamela."

"Christina Aguilera," she said unnecessarily. "Have you calmed down now?"

"Yup. Are you going to the same place as yesterday, or a different one?"

"No, dummy. This is my birthday party. I have a whole decorated hall and I've organized a lot of things." He looked surprised. "Well... I need someone to drive us. Sam or you? One of you come down now!"

"Wait, wait, wait. You're having a birthday party and you didn't invite us? What kind of friend are you?"

"Speak for yourself, Dean," Sam said from behind his brother, sitting on the bed with Lilith's laptop on his lap and his own laptop open on the side of the bed.

"Sam has a Halloween trauma, and he's a boring guy who doesn't like to dress up and particularly hates Halloween parties. And you, well, same argument as yesterday? Not really your type of party, but if you want to come..." She was interrupted by a call she had been waiting for. "What took you so long to respond, Dorian? Did you see my message?" Lilith had sent a message to Dorian telling him not to hold back and to bring good drugs. She didn't know if he would also bring for the rest of the people or if they would do it in the traditional and natural way.

"Sorry, I was busy with some meetings. I'll tell you later," he said. "I have some for you, not for everyone. I might end up in debt, but I can get you some from the ones who are always selling in Massachusetts."

"Great, I really want cocaine, so bring it, and if you have LSD that Mandy hasn't tried and wants to, bring that too."

"Okay, I'll take care of it, don't worry. I have to go now if I want to arrive on time. See you in a few hours."

The look Dean gave her made Sam the chosen one to drive them.

"Didn't you just say that Dorian is bringing you drugs? Tell me I'm completely wrong," Lilith had never seen Dean so upset in her life. He was disgusted to such an extent that she remembered that hunter who would once kill any monster without asking questions, and her kind would be included. He didn't raise his voice or clench his fists; his green eyes simply conveyed what he was thinking. "Lilith."

"I think I want to laugh," she said, barely moving the muscles of her face. The smile faded. "You're not going to make a fuss about a little bit of drugs at a damn party, are you? How old are you? Don't be dramatic; it's within the context of the party."

"Guys..." Sam failed miserably in calming both of them down.

"I'm not being dramatic, I'm not an idiot. I've done drugs at parties too; none of us is a saint. I'm just pointing out that Dorian is bringing you drugs. What kind of man is he?"

"This is ridiculous, Dean. We already discussed this yesterday! And I asked Dorian to do it. If you want to blame someone, blame me and my damn twenty years. I'm going to enjoy my youth the same way any other person my age does. Sam, come down, you have to drive us!"

"I'll drive you. It's my car," Dean said, preempting Lilith as he descended the stairs.

• • ⛧ • •

At twelve o'clock the party became more out of control than Lilith's mind could really comprehend on such levels of cocaine. She needed a moment to get situated throughout the room that had been decorated just the way she wanted thanks to the help of Dorian and a crew she hired: the place consisted of a generic party room that was converted into a sleazy boxing club, just as the aesthetics of the video clip applauded. In the middle they had put a ring with just enough space for the DJ and his music equipment; they also managed to build some safe bleachers around the ring. The décor still used those old club lights that accompanied the graffiti on the wall, fake pipes and wiring through the ceilings, giant slits where several people had hung themselves, and specifically asked that the aesthetic be kept between the colors black, red and white. They filled the place with metal benches and kept the original bar.

She was trying to find Dorian. It was hard to look for him in the dark, but after ten minutes she spotted him chatting quietly and drinking something soft with a couple of college friends. He was dressed up as Rocky Balboa in his iconic American pants. He had to admit that he hadn't expected Dorian to have such an elaborate physique, every muscle in his torso, even his arms which he rarely saw uncovered. Even Mandy -who didn't find men attractive at all- had thrown in a comment or two complimenting him. 

"How's the birthday girl?" Dorian cheered when he saw her arrive."Are you having fun?"

Lilith took a puff on her cigarette and took the boy's hand to lead him to a room next to the bathrooms that was used to store various maintenance items and secured all the electricity wiring. Normally it was locked, Lilith used magic to open it. It was a more comfortable place to snort a stripe. The high had already worn off and she wanted another. 

"Feels great" She pulled out the bag they had hidden earlier on one of the shelves. Lilith sat on the floor, resting and watching Dorian also get into the same thing. -

"That's right."

She got to know another facet of the businessman that was much more interesting for the young woman. They had been on many dates, or rather outings, they had already talked so much that it was a matter of time before they ended up entangled in kisses, the tension had been born months ago. Lilith knew she wanted another kind of relationship with Dorian, one different from the one she always had with men. She wasn't interested in having him for one night, she wanted a friendship and, if it happened, something more. Dorian was a shy boy among women, and even though Lilith showed him she could trust him, he still had trouble taking the initiative, which was why Lilith had to make the first move and kiss him.

She liked how different he was from the rest. She caught his lips kissing him intensely, resting one of her hands on his cheek and the other she used to take his hand and guide it to her waist. She needed to feel him alive. At that moment she didn't think her desire was purely manufactured by the drug, it would be unfair after so many encounters and conversations. They had a formed relationship, they were ready to move forward. Lilith moaned positioning herself on top of him, clinging to his shoulders and delighting in running her hands along his waist. She was liking what she was feeling so much. She didn't care what happened next and, frankly, Lilith wasn't thinking about anything but the dopamine rushes spreading throughout her body. However, she was in charge of leading or it would take eons for Dorian to decide to do something, so, without much forethought, she unbuttoned her bra and used magic to remove her pants. Lilith's body was becoming a riot of hormones. Her heart was racing with every brush against his crotch, her labored breathing was worsening the output of sonorous moans, her cheeks were burning and her dilated eyes were soaking wet. She had never felt so euphoric, an uncontrollable whirlpool, she could imagine herself above Mount Everest, she couldn't even compare to it..... No one could beat her.

In a moment, she began to feel electrifications pounding through every inch of her skin coordinating with Dorian's onslaught in the darkness of that dingy room. It made her laugh, dirrty. The sensations shook her whole body which ached in the strangest of areas, but one of them was in her heart, like a pang.

When they finished, Lilith moved away and leaned her back against the cold wall, trying to slow down her racing heart and, incidentally, her breathing as well.

"God," sighed Dorian, unable to take his eyes off the girl. "You're so beautiful, exactly as I imagined, perfect."

"You're a fool," said Lilith with a little laugh.

"No, I'm serious. You're perfect for me."

The party continued its natural course until the dark sky was no longer so dark and the stars began to scatter. Dorian had spent a great deal of time dancing with Mandy and trying to bring Galilea out of her shell. Galilea put enthusiasm into enjoying herself like everyone else, but sometimes Lilith noticed that she felt uncomfortable with how freely everyone was dancing. That's when Lilith encouraged her to try different dance moves. The important thing was for Galilea to have fun and feel comfortable in her own skin.

Another unexpected event that she would remember forever was when she had the chance not only to dance but also to sing "Dirrty" in the ring. The DJ handed her a microphone, and Lilith gave the performance of her life, delivering the vocals and the choreography from the music video that she still knew by heart. It was amazing, she had so much fun, and it seemed like the other people enjoyed it too.

After that, they sang "Happy Birthday" to her at three in the morning, the time she was born.

• • ⛧ • •

On the way home, the three witches dragged their feet like the smelly drunks they were, well, only Mandy and Lilith because Galilea had barely tasted a couple of vodka sodas all night and she was perfectly fine, just very tired, which was obvious since they were returning home at eight in the morning.

"Girls," Lilith called their attention, "I hooked up with Dorian." She couldn't help but burst into laughter, and the others were infected by it.

"What?" Mandy said. "Reaally? I mean, it makes sense, right? You've been feeding the poor guy with dates, it was about time. How is his penis?"

"Why do you want to know that?" Lilith exploded in laughter.

"Isn't that what hetero girl groups ask?"

"I... I don't know. Do they?" Lilith replied, still laughing. She noticed Galilea struggling to keep her eyes open. "How are you doing, Gali?"

"I can still hear the music, I have a ringing in my ear."

"Yeah, me too."

"Same here," Mandy said, pointing to her ear. "I'm starving, I'm more hungry than sleepy."

The witches turned the corner that would lead them home.

"Oh my God! What is that?" Mandy exclaimed. "I can't believe it! Really?"

Beside the entrance to their house, there was a huge saffron flower heart, almost as tall as the door and one and a half meters wide. The girls ran closer to see it. The aroma was exquisite. Next to the heart, there was a gift box and a note that said, "For the most perfect woman in the world, with love from Dorian."

"Who do you have smitten, Miss Arduenn?" from across the street, the neighbor from across the street, old Mrs. Maud, said as her parrots chattered in their cages. "Oh, by the way! Happy birthday, young lady!"

"Thank you! I... I have a gentleman smitten with me," Lilith replied, still unable to believe the gift he had given her. It was beautiful, a detail that would enchant anyone, or at least, it was enchanting Lilith. "I'm going to open this gift."

Unable to contain her excitement, she opened it and gasped at the beauty it contained. Dorian had given her the Chanel outfit from the spring '95 "ready to wear" collection that Carla Bruni had worn on the runway. Lilith knew her favorite brand, and she had always wanted one of those outfits, especially from that collection. There was an attached document confirming the authenticity of the outfit. She was about to faint! It was legitimate!

"It's beautiful," Galilea said, appreciating the outfit. "Dorian seems like a good man, he really is beautiful."

"I want this heart in my backyard."

"It impressed even me, and I'm telling you, I'm not a fan of flowers," Mandy added. "Won't it fall apart if we move it?"

"I don't think so. Push, but don't use magic, Mrs. Maud is watching us."

Lilith discreetly opened the door with magic since she didn't have a key, and she grabbed the heart as best as she could while Mandy and Galilea pushed from behind. She didn't expect everyone to already be awake at eight in the morning, but she quickly found the answer. The smell of freshly baked cookies filled the house, waking up the boys who were already sitting side by side on the kitchen counter eating a piece of homemade banana cream pie. Their mother stood in the middle of the living room, wearing an apron and with her mouth agape, impressed by the giant flower heart.

"Does this come from Dorian?" her mom asked, admiring the purple beauty as a couple of petals fell at her feet. "What are you going to do with this, honey?"

"I want to put it in the backyard." Once they were inside the house, Lilith was able to use her magic to move it more easily. "I think I pricked myself on a thorn."

"Good morning," Galilea greeted politely. Even half asleep, she remained an angel.

"Can we eat, Regina?" Mandy had a certain familiarity with her mother. In fact, Mandy was one of those cheerful and funny people that everyone liked within seconds. "Where should I put this? It's the gift that came with the heart. Dorian went all out."

"Go to the dining room, I prepared everything there," Regina replied without taking her eyes off the heart, still amazed. "You know, Barbara told me that Dorian had something planned for Lilith, but I didn't expect it to be a flower heart," she laughed.

Lilith was having some trouble positioning the large heart correctly; it illuminated the entire backyard but also cast shadows. It had been a very nice gesture on Dorian's part. She was a somewhat romantic girl, she liked the flowers he always gave her and the little details. Dorian was leaving his mark on how much he cared and, impossible to deny at this point, how much he liked Lilith. When it was perfect, the young witch sat on the bench, taking a second to rest and appreciate how beautiful it looked.

Suddenly, her mom appeared and sat next to her, under the warm sun.

"How was the party?" she asked, brushing some strands of hair from Lilith's face and smiling at her, with something more special than their usual interaction.

"It was amazing! The best party ever."

"Well..." she said affectionately. "Happy birthday, my precious. I have something for you, a gift." From the pocket of her apron, she pulled out a small black velvet box and handed it to her. "Open it."

With great excitement, Lilith opened it and gasped at the beauty of the necklace inside. It was a small amethyst heart tied to a silver chain. She didn't wear much jewelry, but she knew that once she put it on, she would never want to take it off.

"It's beautiful, Mom, thank you. Can you put it on for me?"

"Grandma gave it to me when I turned twenty-one, and now I want to give it to you. I've been keeping it for years," Mom carefully put the necklace on her. The sunlight made it look even more beautiful. "My mom told me that the stone held a piece of all the love she had in her heart for me, but I'll tell you something different. It's not just a piece of my love for you, but you are my whole heart, and I'm very proud of the woman you've become. I always wanted to be a mom, and you've given me the opportunity. I love you so much, baby."

Lilith started to cry, just like her mom shed a tear while holding her in her arms and kissing her forehead with tenderness. They had always been close like this. The bond they had was so strong and special.

"I love you too."

After wiping away their tears, they returned to the dining room. Breakfast was served as Mom used to do on each of her birthdays. Despite being busy with her cases most of the time, Mom loved to bake sweets of all kinds: raspberry cakes, banana or apple pies, lemon cream cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies that Lilith loved, liquor and blueberry truffles, small pies with the grandmother's recipe, and jars filled with fruit in syrup, chocolate, and cream. She placed some balloons, and in the center was her birthday cake, a round layer of white Ballina paste with tiny red hearts around it and in the center, "Happy Birthday Lilith. 21" was written in cursive. Mandy and Galilea were already seated, hungry and waiting.

"Lilith, we're waiting for you to start eating, don't keep us waiting," pleaded Mandy, the hungriest of them all, who had been letting everyone know about it throughout the entire journey home.

"We're going to sing 'Happy Birthday'," said Mom. "Kids, come over here." Mom's voice was so powerful and commanding that it even woke up Galilea from her sleep and startled Lilith.

"Did you do all this by yourself last night?" Lilith asked.

"Naaah," she replied, pointing to Dean as he entered after Sam. "I have the best assistant, born with a unique talent."

Dean looked very excited to start eating, unlike Sam, who was known for not eating much sweet food because he would vomit.

"Happy birthday, Lilith," Sam congratulated her, giving her a hug and then whispering, "I left your present in your room."

She blew out the single candle, and Mom took a photo that probably didn't turn out very nice, but Mom preferred naturalness over aesthetics. She said it told the true story. When everyone started eating and serving coffee, Lilith excused herself to go to her room to change because she was freezing, and for some reason, Dean followed her, barely managing to put a truffle of liqueur and raspberries in his mouth.

"What?" Lilith asked, laughing. It felt like a chase. She probably still had traces of cocaine in her body. "What do you want?" Dean gently took hold of her wrists before entering her room.

"I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday," he simply said. "Now you can go in." A smile escaped him. What was he up to?

Upon entering her room, she had never expected to see a small black kitten sleeping on her bed, among the thousand pillows she had. She felt her heart shrink and her eyes well up again with the emotion and tenderness she was feeling. Was this Dean's gift? She was moved, in a state of trance. It was the most endearing thing she had seen Dean Winchester do for someone other than his younger brother. She walked quietly and sat down next to the little one. She stroked it, smiling as its ears barely moved. She noticed it had a soft black silicone collar with a tag that said "Prayer." How did Dean know?

Lilith turned her head slowly towards Dean, making it seem like a scene from a horror movie, and showed him her impressed face as if the man in front of her had suddenly become a fortune teller.

"How on earth did you know that I wanted a black kitten, and worse, that I was going to name it Prayer? Are you a god?"

Dean burst into laughter and sat on the bed next to her.

"You told me," he lied. She had never shared it with anyone, and she was a hundred percent sure of that. "Well, Htilil told me." Now everything made more sense. "Htilil" was Lilith's sleep-talking alter ego, that's what Dean called her. "During the week we were alone, exactly when you fell asleep in my car after having sex for the first time, you said you wanted a black male kitten so you wouldn't feel so alone when crying in your coven's room. And then you said you would name it Prayer because you love Madonna, and your favorite song is 'Like a Prayer'."

She smiled from the heart.

The little kitten woke up, and its green eyes brightened Lilith's day.

"Hello baby, you're so adorable," she said in a high-pitched voice. "I'm a witch, but I'm not going to kill you and use you for rituals; I love you and I'm going to love you," she made an effort to contain her excitement and not unleash it in a tight hug that would hurt him. "Your name is Prayer, I know you love it. Oh, I love you!" she squealed. "Thanks, Dean, it's really the best, well, after this necklace."

"Well, it's not a stupid cheesy giant flower heart, but it took me a while to find it. I didn't think it would be so hard to adopt a cat."

"The flowers will wither in a few days, but you gave me a living being that will be with me for years," her voice became higher as she spoke. She took the kitten and squeezed it against her chest. "You're so adorable, I want to hug you tightly until you can't breathe."

"That's Sam's gift, mine is much better, I have to say," he boasted. Lilith took the box from her nightstand and saw dozens of vampire fangs. Sam was the best! "I don't know why you want that, it's disgusting."

"To these fangs, my dear friend, you should be grateful that I'm not pregnant. And speaking of that..." Dean looked confused, he was about to understand as soon as Lilith took out a box with a bunch of empty vials. She had only one dose left of the potion that controlled her pregnancies. "I need the vampire fangs to make this potion, it's my birth control."

"But we use protection."

"It doesn't matter, the condom can fail, and you're not the only one I have sex with," Lilith covered her nose to drink that disgusting dose. She needed to do it because she had unprotected sex with Dorian, and he had ejaculated inside her. That potion eliminated her fertilized egg with 100% effectiveness. Normally, Lilith didn't let anyone penetrate her without a condom. She didn't want to catch any sexually transmitted diseases, but she trusted Dorian. He was a hygiene maniac and a respectable man. He would have said something if he had anything, and besides, he wasn't the type to stick his naked penis anywhere."Cheers."

"So we could have been having sex without that fucking piece of plastic all this time, and you didn't tell me?"

"Wow, calm down," she stopped him before he got carried away with fantasies. "Dean, I don't know where you've been. I trust my life blindly in your hands, but not my vagina, sorry."

"This is horrible of you. I'm clean!"

"Bring me a medical paper that says so, and I'll consider it."

"I want you to bring me one too," he countered. It was fair.

• • ⛧ • •

His birthday turned out much better than he had expected. It definitely managed to erase the bad taste that last year had left him. He had his mom and now a new being to give love and companionship to: Prayer, an adorable calm kitten resting in his arms like a baby. The three witches woke up late but in time to give candy to the children knocking on the door. They ordered some pizzas and ate them while watching horror movies in the living room with the company of the brothers. Lilith couldn't help but notice how differently they were dealing with time, and it hurt her. On one hand, Dean was mostly happy and cheerful, accepting the things she asked of him, like sitting down to watch a movie with them. She knew it was how he hid his true fear of what was to come. Dean wasn't a robot; he had just learned to repress his feelings and keep a straight face despite the bad times. On the other hand, it was obvious how much Sam was suffering, trying to find a solution even when he couldn't share a moment of fun with his brother. It showed that he was the most serious and intelligent one. He was searching for information, now based on Lilith's research. His dedication was such that he added five pages to the document with information about blood transfusion and biological and anatomical information that could be necessary.

He received a call before going to bed after breakfast from Bobby, who congratulated her on turning twenty-one and told her, in his own language, that he missed her and that she should come home soon.

"Why can't we watch something else?" Galilea was genuinely frightened by the movie "The Silence of the Lambs." "I'm going to have nightmares."

Lilith hugged her when she saw her distressed with fear, and Mandy joined in right away.

"It's just a movie," said Sam, taking a sip of beer. The comment was more insensitive than Sam actually was, to the point that even Dean looked at him as if he didn't know him.

"She's just an innocent little angel, don't you see?" Lilith defended her.

"She's still learning about life, she just came out of the jungle. Show some respect," added Mandy.

Dean burst into laughter, almost dropping his beer bottle.

"Careful, Sammy, the witches are coming for you."

"We can play Monopoly," Lilith suggested to make Galilea feel more comfortable.

And the three witches and the two hunters spent the night playing and drinking.

⛧.