Lilith finally pulled away from my embrace and pointed down at my midsection. At first, I thought she was pointing to my groin. I figured she wanted to drown her sorrows in some lovemaking, but I thought that would be in poor taste after everything we had just been through. I was about to shoot her idea down gently…until I realized that she wasn’t pointing at my crotch, but instead at my left pocket.

At first, I was a little confused by what the young woman was after, but then I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the white card with Kaede’s name and number on it. I held it out in the open for the both of us to see with a quizzical look on my face.

“Telephone,” Lilith finally spoke. She then pointed to the north end of the house. I knew she was trying to tell me about the bedroom at the other end of the hallway.

This whole time, there had been a telephone in Antenora’s bedroom. I should’ve seen that one coming.

I took Lilith’s right hand and brought her with me as we made our way down the long hallway. There were rugs on the floor across the entire stretch, and old black and white photos in antique frames hung on the walls. As we made our way to the opposite end of the hall, I didn’t even bother poking my head into the room in between. I didn’t care what was in there since I finally had a way out of this nightmare. Of course, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t half-expecting some undead monster to come hurtling out at us from the doorway in order to provide us with one final jump scare.

No such thing happened, though, and we made it to the bedroom at the end of the hallway without a hitch. Antenora’s room reminded me a lot of my grandparents’ bedroom. Everything found within from the furniture to the bedspread was from a bygone era. There were knickknacks throughout the bedchamber that were older than Lilith and I combined, and a few magazines sat on a nightstand that were dated with a year I had also not seen in my short life. Walking through the room felt like stepping into a time capsule from an age long before I had been born.

Another nightstand sat on the other side of the twin bed. I made my way around the furniture and walked up to an old candlestick rotary phone. I picked up the earphone and held it up to my right ear while using the index finger of my left hand to begin painstakingly dialing Kaede’s number. I knew I should have been calling the law, but Lilith had convinced me that calling my old friend was in my best interest. I had no idea why, but I knew I could trust Kaede.

After what felt like an eternity, I heard a voice through the earphone greet me. “Hello?”

My voice became lodged in my throat. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I hadn’t seen Kaede since I was nineteen years old…and now I was hearing her voice during one of the strangest times in my life. I didn’t have the words for her when I needed them most.

“Hello?”

“Ka…Kaede?”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. I felt like that eerie lack of sound was trying to piece things together. After a long pause, the voice finally questioned, “Marcus…?”

I smiled as Lilith did her best to listen in while sitting on the bed near where I was kneeling. “Yes! How…how did you remember my voice?”

“Marcus? How the hell did you get this number? Where the hell are you? How…how the hell have you been?!”

I placed a hand on Lilith’s right thigh as I gazed up at her and flashed her a reassuring smile. “Kaede, I don’t know how the hell fate brought us back together after all these years, but I have a crazy story for you! Granted, I can’t tell you about it right now, but I just came across your number in the most bizarre and random way imaginable…and I just had to call you before anyone else!”

The raven-haired woman on the other end of the line was just as stunned as I was. She was quiet for a moment before asking me, “Do you know what number you’ve called me at, Marcus?”

I guess I hadn’t really given it any thought. I just assumed that the phone number I was calling belonged directly to my old friend, so when I had started running my fingers through the rotary dial, I hadn’t planned on speaking to anyone but Kaede if I received an answer. I didn’t think fate would’ve dropped her number in my lap and then allowed someone else to answer the phone.

“Marcus, I don’t think we should exactly talk right now. I want to catch up with you – really, I do – but now isn’t the best time for that. Where are you? Is there somewhere we could meet?”

“Um, that’s kind of the crazy thing, Kaede. I don’t have any idea where I am.”

“Excuse me?”

I glanced at Lilith again and wondered how much I should tell my old friend on the other end of the line. “Well, since the last time I saw you, a lot has happened in my life. I’ve been all over the place, and recently, I ended up at a farm out in the middle of nowhere. I would love to give you directions since my pickup broke down, but I don’t have any way of telling you…”

Lilith suddenly reached down and snatched the earphone out of my hand from where I squatted in front of the nightstand. She then leaned over and grabbed the “candlestick” part of the phone so she could hold the mouthpiece closer to the bottom half of her face. “Kaede…?”

My face scrunched up in puzzlement as I leaned in closer toward the young woman so I could listen to what was being said. After Lilith spoke my old friend’s name, I heard Kaede respond, “Lilith? Is that you?”

The blue-skinned beauty nodded as she said, “Daddy’s…my dad is dead.”

I noted how the second part of that sentence sounded like the Lilith from old on the homemade movies.

There was a long pause until I finally heard Kaede respond, “I’m so sorry, Lilith. I wondered why it had been so long since I had heard from any of you.”

Lilith sat on the bed with her head down and waited a few seconds before muttering, “She’s dead, too.”

Again, there was another pause until Kaede asked, “Lilith, would you be able to put Marcus back on the phone?”

Lilith did what was asked of her and handed me everything I required. I listened through the earphone once again while saying, “Kaede, I’m not exactly sure how you know Lilith and the others…”

“Marcus, listen to me: I’ll be there first thing in the morning. I know exactly where you are. I passed through the area about five years back and met Albert. I’m not sure what’s been going on since then, but it’s vital that you keep that girl safe. Don’t let anything happen to her, you hear me?”

I nodded even though Kaede couldn’t see my response. I then asked her, “How do you know where we are…?”

“I’ll be there in the morning, Marcus. Until then, just sit tight. All will be explained when I arrive, okay?”

My mind was completely blown. I don’t recall how long it took me, but I finally responded, “All right. I’ll see you then.”

“Goodnight, Marcus.”

“Goodnight…Kaede.”

I couldn’t believe I was going to see my old friend again.

                    *

It was an unusual and awkward night to say the least. Knowing that a dead body was just outside the house was strange enough, but lying naked with Lilith on my bed in the guest room after everything we had been through was the icing on the cake. We didn’t do anything that night except hold one another. To be honest, I’m not even sure I slept a wink that night.

Around five o’clock in the morning, I told Lilith we should get up and take a quick shower. She agreed and we climbed in together in order to rinse off and prepare for the day. It was difficult to not look at her in an impure manner while bathing, but I avoided my arousal even when she reached for it a few times since I knew we had things to be ready for. As much as I wanted to take her in my arms and love her, I fought temptation so we could be ready for Kaede’s eventual arrival.

We had some rather bland oatmeal for breakfast since neither of us were exactly in the mood to make something more elaborate. We then sat at the kitchen table after finishing in silence for a good fifteen minutes until we heard something outside.

After all these years, I knew she was returning to my life.

I told Lilith to follow me as we exited through the front door and made our way down the decaying steps. Both of us glanced at the stack of wood piled over Antenora’s body and were half expecting her to be gone. This wasn’t a horror movie, though, and she was right where I had left her less than twelve hours earlier.

I led the way across the dirt lot and toward the thin roadway between the trees that had been blocked off by my pickup. The sun wasn’t even completely up yet, but the headlights from the van on the other side of my old clunker lit the path. My shoes crunched on the gravel as I walked toward the running vehicle not more than thirty feet away from me. My heart raced as I held Lilith’s right hand and told her to be careful since she was barefoot as usual.

Was I truly about to reunite with Kaede under such outlandish circumstances after seven years of being apart…?

The driver’s side door of the van opened and a woman of almost five and a half feet stepped out. She had raven tresses that were possibly darker than Lilith’s, and her skin was just as tan as it had been all those years earlier. Her clothes were tight fitting, and it was dreadfully obvious that she was just as able-bodied as she had been back when the two of us went on our impromptu ghost hunt. Just laying eyes on the marvelous woman brought memories surging back to me as I recalled the good times I had shared with her…

“Marcus Veovin…as I live and breathe!” Leaving her vehicle running, the dark-haired beauty rounded my old pickup and darted toward me. She lunged into my waiting arms as we reunited on the spot with Lilith watching.

I spun my old friend around once before setting her down and then turning to face the blue-skinned angel standing behind me. I cleared my throat and then made the mistake of forgetting that the two already knew each other. “Lilith, this is my old friend, Kaede, and Kaede, this is…”

“I know who this is,” the alluring and toned woman cut me off. She looked stunning in her black, skintight t-shirt and matching jeans and jacket. She then smiled as she took a step toward my blue-skinned compeer and placed an arm around her in order to pull her close. “How you doing, kiddo?”

Lilith didn’t have any words for my old friend. She allowed Kaede to hug her, but said nothing.

I had so many questions and absolutely no idea where to begin. I decided to just start with whatever came to my mind first as I glanced at Kaede’s black van and then back at her. “Did you come alone?”

“For now…yes.”

I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean, but I motioned toward her vehicle and queried, “Is that the style for girls your age, or is that a company van?”

Kaede was no stranger to my sense of humor. It may have been a little over seven years since the last time we had seen each other, but it seemed like it had been no more than seven days. “That’s a company van. I tend to stick to cars for my personal vehicles…cars that look like hearses, mind you.”

Yup. She definitely still had the same morbid sense of humor…and she apparently still enjoyed the strange, dark, and mysterious. I decided it would be best to follow up my previous query by asking, “So, what kind of company has you driving around in a vehicle that makes you come off as a mortician?”

Kaede simple grinned as she replied, “Do you suppose we could find a better place to talk than this? I’ve been driving all night to get here, so I could use a comfortable couch or recliner or something!”

                    *

The three of us sat in the living room on the ground level of the late Antenora’s house. I had whipped up some hot cocoa for Kaede, and Lilith had shown me where to find some marshmallows for it. The blue-skinned beauty had opted not to have any of the thick, chocolatey liquid, and if I’m being honest, I was too anxious to even think about a beverage.

Kaede kicked back on the couch and made herself comfortable. The sun was finally starting to come up as a bit of light filtered in through the window behind her. It made her look just as dazzling as she had looked at nineteen…if not better. Like a fine wine, the dark-haired beauty had become better with age.

When Lilith and I had led my old friend into the house, I hadn’t pointed out Antenora’s body. I wholeheartedly trusted Kaede, but I figured she needed to hear a few other things before I dropped the tale of a dead woman in her lap. It may have been in poor taste, but I figured the deceased crone would be right at home in the back of Kaede’s van since it looked like it was used to haul around bodies.

I couldn’t help but notice that even though Kaede had looked genuinely excited to see Lilith, my blue-skinned angel appeared less than thrilled by Kaede’s sudden emergence. I wasn’t sure why that was, but I was determined to find some answers. From my time spent with both women, I knew that they were both good people…so it bothered me that Lilith could possibly have some pent-up animosity toward my old companion.

After taking a sip of her hot cocoa, Kaede’s face crinkled up as she leaned forward to set the mug down while holding a hand up to her mouth. “Oh, that’s hot!” She then laughed at her own comment and rolled her eyes by adding, “I guess that’s where the ‘hot’ comes from in the name, huh?”

I chuckled along with her. I wondered where to possibly begin with everything that had befallen me in the time since I had last seen the fit and lithe woman.

Kaede looked around the room as if she had been in it before and was trying to see if it had changed in some subtle way. Her eyes landed on Lilith for the briefest of moments before once again finding me as she asked, “So, Marcus…how did you manage to find yourself all the way out here?”

I wasn’t sure how much Kaede needed to know. The last time I had seen her, we had just graduated and had our entire lives ahead of us. As crazy as it sounds, we had spent one of our summer nights scoping out a supposedly haunted cabin…and after finding actual evidence of the paranormal, the raven-tressed beauty up and disappeared from my life. I was convinced she had gone off to become an expert ghost hunter or some such. I doubt there’s much money in such an occupation, but Kaede had always lived life in a much different way than most others. My old friend followed her own set of rules and would never let anyone tell her what to do.

As Kaede pursued her course in life, I chased my own destiny. I took a year off from school and worked a couple of jobs while dating a couple of wonderful girls…not at the same time, of course. There was a night and day difference between the two I dated that year, but they were both fantastic in their own charming ways. While I hadn’t seen either of them in years, it dawned on me in that very moment that I would love to catch up with the both of them just as I was now doing with Kaede.

After that first year, I ended up in college for a year and then lost a chunk of time to something I’ve mentioned more than once but prefer not to talk much about. Directly after that enlightening but terrifying adventure, I had a little therapeutic time to myself before ending up in the loving and wonderful arms of Eve. That relationship spanned a good two years and acted as a precursor to the last couple of weeks. When I finally answered my old friend’s query, I simply said, “I needed to get away from things and decided to just drive…and after a week of being on the road, I ended up out here.”

“And your pickup broke down just outside?” Kaede asked as she pointed in the direction of where my old clunker sat in the middle of the path.

“Yup.”

“It’s like fate brought you here,” Kaede said as she took a quick glance at Lilith. When her eyes were back on me, she asked, “How did you get my number, Marcus?”

I shook my head from where I sat on an old, cushioned chair across the room from Lilith as I chortled, “You’re not going to believe this, but I was cleaning up after dinner last night when I saw a card with your name on the refrigerator in the kitchen.”

The raven-tressed woman nodded as if she had been expecting such a response. “Marcus,” she then spoke up, “I think we both have a lot to catch up on, but I’m going to be straight with you since I always liked you back in the day. I feel you have the right to know, and in order for any of this to make sense, I have to go back in time a bit.”

I sat back on my chair after exchanging glances with Lilith. I could see that my blue-haired compeer still looked leery of Kaede, but I knew she had to trust her in some small way since she had allowed me to call her. I still wondered what the story was there as I turned my attention back to my old friend and allowed her to speak.

“Marcus, after you and I had that ‘encounter,’ I decided to travel the globe in search of other ghosts from the past. I wanted to prove to the world that the paranormal exists on some fundamental level, so I went out east and took our findings to one of the greatest universities on the continent. It was there where I met other people who shared my passion for finding ways to communicate with the ‘other side,’ and we formed a short-lived group known as the ‘Paranormal Investigators Supernatural Squad.”

Thinking about the acronym, I couldn’t help but sarcastically grin as I chortled, “I can see why the group didn’t last long.”

“I thought you would get a kick out of that,” Kaede responded with a laugh of her own. “Trust me; when I wrote the name down after Shay suggested it, I crumpled it up and tossed it directly into the trash can! By ‘short-lived,’ I mean all of five seconds!”

I laughed and looked in Lilith’s direction to see her response. She hadn’t even cracked a smile.

“As it was,” Kaede went on, “We formed a small group of five investigators known simply as ‘the Occult Fans.’ We didn’t advertise what we were doing since we were all well aware of how closed-minded most people are, so we were only known to a select few. Still, word circulated of what we did amongst the people who needed to know, and we ended up being asked to explore quite a few different places that were said to have a history. Our reputation grew as we did so, and eventually, we were being asked to journey to some of the most supposedly haunted places in the world.

“Five years ago,” the raven-tressed beauty went on as she turned her gaze toward Lilith, “My crew and I were passing through this area and were enjoying breakfast in a small diner located in a village not far from here. It was there where we met Albert Vinsfield. Again, it’s not like we advertise what we do, but somehow, Albert seemed to pick up on the fact that we deal with all things…supernatural.” Kaede peeled her eyes off Lilith long enough to look at me again as she added, “Albert approached us and asked if we’d be willing to come out to his place and have a look at his daughter. We weren’t exactly sure why he’d want us to, but we decided to humor him…and that’s when we met Lilith here.”

I gazed at the blue-skinned beauty across from me and saw her frowning. Just by looking at her face, I could tell that Kaede was telling the truth.

“It’s the strangest thing, Marcus,” Kaede went on as she looked the other female in the room over. “I’ve heard stories about them that date back nearly two thousand years, but never once during any of my investigations have I ever encountered one. I’ve always believed them to be real, but like the ghosts and spirits I seek out, they’re so rare that seeing one defies all logic. Think of how astounded I was when Albert brought us here and I finally met one in the flesh!”

I wasn’t sure that I followed my old friend. “Met what, Kaede?”

“An actual demon, Marcus! A real-life fiend in the flesh!”

When I realized that the alluring and toned woman was referring to my blue-skinned angel, I became a little peeved as I shot back, “Kaede! What the hell are you talking about? How can you say such a…”

“It’s true, Marcus.”

I was caught off guard when the reply came not from my old friend, but from my new one. I glanced over at Lilith with my jaw hanging open.

Tears began to well in the young woman’s eyes as she confessed, “What she says, Marcus…it’s true. I am a spawn from the underworld…and I somehow managed to find my way to this world when I was very young.”

My mind whirled with emotions as I tried to process what was being told to me. I couldn’t seem to comprehend the fact that my angel was telling me she was a demon…a forthright and sincere fiend from the pits who defied all faith and logic. And she did so in her old, normal tone of vernacular. She gave me a confession straight from her sweet lips…

“From what Albert told me,” Kaede interrupted my thoughts, “He was working out at his old shed in the woods one day over two decades ago when he heard a sound. He had built the shed far out in a clearing due to the fact that an old map he had stumbled upon years earlier marked a well on that spot, and as he exited his workspace and turned his eyes toward it, he saw a small child crawling out of it…a small, blue child.

“Being the loving man he was, he instantly took the child in as his own and raised her to the best of his ability. While he worked his land, he found time to homeschool the girl and teach her about the outside world with hopes of one day showing it to her and integrating her into it. He did everything he could to prepare her for a life without him one day…because he knew that he wasn’t going to live forever since he was already well into his sixties when he first met her.”

I didn’t mean to cut my old friend off, but I couldn’t help but laugh ironically as I interrupted, “Just because Lilith crawled out of a well doesn’t mean she’s a…”

“But I am, Marcus,” Lilith told me in a stern tone. “I’m a fiend from the depths…and the only reason you fell in love with me is because I bedazzled you with my innate abilities. I didn’t mean to, but sometimes it just…happens.” The blue-skinned beauty buried her face in her hands and began to sob.

I sprang to my feet and was across the room in a heartbeat. I knelt beside the young woman and placed my arms around her while pulling her close. It didn’t matter if I believed her confession or not: I truly loved Lilith and wanted nothing more than to protect her.

“I gave Albert my number and told him to check in every once in a while,” Kaede went on as she watched me do my best to calm the girl. “He was well aware that my expertise lies in the spirit world, but he thought that I could maybe make some sense out of how Lilith came to be in our world and how she was able to exist beside us…in harmony.

“As we all know, Marcus, demons – or fiends, whatever you prefer to call them – are all inherently evil. All they want is to overrun the world and usher in an age of complete darkness. They don’t want to coexist with us…they want to torture and decimate us. Anyone who believes in any type of god or gods tends to follow this credo…and yet, Lilith’s very existence here disregards that very philosophy.

“When he found her, Albert claimed she was the sweetest little girl. He told me – with a smile on his face – that the day Lilith came into his life was one of his happiest. He told me that as the years passed and he raised her to womanhood, he had never been more proud of anyone or anything in his entire life. He said that while she was growing up, Lilith was always a perfect little angel, and if it ever came down to it, he would be willing to give his life for her.”

And he did just that in the end. I was sure that Kaede wasn’t aware of that little tidbit yet, and I wasn’t about to bring it up. We had told her that the older couple was deceased, but we hadn’t gone into detail. I thought about that as I continued to coddle the blue-skinned angel while she cried in my arms. To me, she was still exactly that: An angel.

“My crew and I spent a little time here studying Lilith,” Kaede went on as she continued the story. “Under the watchful eye of Albert, we ran tests on her and did everything we could to devise plausible answers for her existence and overall conformity with humanity. He cared a great deal for this girl…and he wanted to see her accepted into normal society.” The raven-haired stunner paused and gave Lilith a moment to let her tears run freely before inquiring, “If I may ask, what happened to Albert?”

Gripping Lilith tightly, I made eye contact with Kaede and simply shook my head. Now wasn’t the time for that answer.

Kaede received the message loud and clear. I think she wanted to ask the same question about Antenora, but she knew better than to do so. I could tell her the whole sordid story later.

“You two can believe what you want,” I then spoke up, “But no one will ever be able to convince me that Lilith is anything but an angel.” I gazed directly at my old friend as I told her, “You can say it, Lilith herself can say it…hell, even any priest could waltz up to this house and say it to my face if he dared to do so, but my beliefs remain the same: This woman is not capable of evil and would never willingly harm another living thing.”

Kaede shook her head as she tried to tell me, “Try to understand when I tell you, Marcus, that I’m not saying she’s evil! That’s what makes Lilith such a curiosity! She comes from a race of beings who are hellbent on death and destruction…but she wants none of that! She’s nothing like we’ve ever seen before!”

I wasn’t trying to be difficult, but I met the dark eyes of my old friend as I pointed out, “You said it yourself that you’ve never seen an actual fiend before, so how would you be able to compare one to anything else? Yes, we’ve all been led to believe they’re implicitly evil, but what if they’re not? As crazy as this sounds, what if they’re just a misunderstood race?”

Kaede shook her head as she reached for the hot cocoa and took a drink. She knew I was having trouble coming to terms with what I had been told and didn’t want to hurt my feelings. I’m sure she assumed I was still under Lilith’s “love spell.”

Even though Lilith herself had claimed that I had been bedazzled by her, I didn’t buy it for a second. I may have doubted things once before, but as I held the crying woman in my strong grasp, I knew I’d do anything for her. In that instant, I wished I could be transported to the opposite side of the world so I could be as far away from her as possible in order to prove my point. I’d love her just the same no matter what.

“I know how crazy this sounds,” Kaede said as she placed the mug back on the coffee table in front of her, “But from what my crew and I were able to piece together, we believe that well was constructed years ago over one out of nine possible entryways…to the very pits themselves.” The black-haired beauty paused before adding, “That map wasn’t made to lead anyone to a water source…but instead to a feasible entrance to the underworld.”

I didn’t even have the words to express myself. Never had I ever intentionally said anything to make another person feel like an idiot – especially to a near and dear friend – but what Kaede was suggesting sounded foolish beyond all measure. When I finally found my voice, I muttered, “Oh, come on, Kaede! You’re not trying to tell me…”

The raven-tressed stunner nodded. “Yup. The legendary realm of eternal suffering and damnation itself. That well was built as a marker to the hells themselves.”

I shook my head as I finally released my hold on Lilith. I could feel the young woman gazing upward at me while wiping away a few tears from her eyes as I gazed at Kaede and finally grumbled, “Bullshit.”

I’m sure Kaede was used to dealing with people who didn’t believe what she did for a living, and over the span of time she had been hunting down the paranormal, it was a sure bet that she had learned how to deal with the naysayers and nonbelievers. Out of respect for what we once had, I think she went easy on me as she raised her hands and brought them down on her thighs before letting out a sigh and standing up. “You believe what you want, Marcus. I’ve never tried to convince anyone that what I tell them is gospel, but I know what we found here five years ago.” In order to ease the tension a bit, Kaede glanced at Lilith and asked, “Would it be okay if I went and grabbed a glass of water, hon?”

The blue-skinned beauty nodded.

After Kaede vanished from the room, I stared down at Lilith. Without saying a word, I thought about everything I had learned in the last few days. As the pieces of the puzzle all came together, I tried to convince myself that what I had stumbled upon could only be a dream or hallucination. I mentioned before that I was raised in a religious household and I value the beliefs I hold dear, but hearing that one of the portals to the underworld existed practically in Lilith’s backyard…?

I remembered the sulfurous stench that had pervaded the dell when we had journeyed out to where it peacefully sat nestled in the surrounding woods. The lonely vale had been so calm and peaceful…even though it housed a dark and terrible secret from the past. There was no way the scent of the underworld had wafted to the surface from that well…

Again, I shook my head in disgust as I thought about things. The whole concept of the “underworld” couldn’t be taken literally. Even people who believed in the pits and damnation would never claim that it was actually beneath our feet and underground. Anyone who believed in the existence of any kind of hells would explain that it was a spiritual concept and couldn’t be thought of in such a literal sense.

And yet, both Kaede and Lilith were trying to convince me that my blue-skinned angel had crawled out of some form of portal connecting our plane of existence to some kind of perdition.

Lilith suddenly reached for one of my hands. I stared down at her and met those lovely, chartreuse eyes as she did her best to warm me with one of her fascinating smiles. I leaned down and wiped some of the tears from her face as Kaede returned to the room.

“Oh! I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“No,” I told my old friend as I glanced in her direction.

The fit leader of the Occult Fans nodded her understanding and returned to where she had been sitting on the couch. Seating herself again, she set her glass of water down next to the mug as she clarified, “Everything I’m telling you today comes from what I’ve studied and found, Marcus. I’m in no way trying to bad-mouth Lilith or do anything of the like. Don’t misunderstand anything I’ve told you and think that I’m trying to belittle her in any way…”

“I know you’re not, Kaede,” I responded. “It’s just…this is a lot to take in. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen on a daily basis…”

“You’re telling me!” My old friend laughed. “If it did, I’d probably receive a hell of a lot more calls for my job!”

I did my best to laugh with the raven-tressed stunner. My mind was all over the place, though, so I found it difficult to focus on humor.

Lilith suddenly squeezed my hand and told me, “I’d like to go lie down, Marcus. I’m terribly tired.”

I nodded my understanding to the blue-skinned beauty. She had been through a lot and had barely slept a wink the night before. As I told her that would be fine, I realized how strange it was hearing her speak more than a few words at a time. When I had first met her, she had compartmentalized so many things away due to the passing of her father and living under the iron fist of Antenora. Now that she was free, she was becoming her old self.

As Lilith climbed to her feet so she could head upstairs for a nap, I asked if she wanted me to come with her. She replied by telling me, “I think you and Kaede have some catching up to do.” She then vanished after leaving the room.

When I turned to face my old friend seated on the couch, I could see her smiling up at me. It was the kind of smile that told me I was doing a good thing for somebody…even if I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

“She’s a good person, Marcus,” Kaede told me in a stern voice as she placed her arms on top of the couch so she could stretch out a bit. “She’s scared shitless of me, though, if you didn’t already notice.”

“And why is that?” I instantly shot back in a rigid tone. “I’ve known you for years and her for only a few days, but in that amount of time, I’ve been able to deduce that she’s a wonderful person…just as I’ve always known you to be. So why is it that she’d be afraid of you?”

“Could be because I come off as somewhat of a ‘doctor’ type to her.”

I had no idea what the raven-haired stunner was saying. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Weren’t you ever scared to go see the doctor when you were a kid, Marcus?” Kaede inquired. “Hell, aren’t you still a little on edge any time you go in for a checkup?”

I somewhat grasped what my friend was saying. “Sometimes. But what does that have to do with…?”

“Albert asked me and my crew to run tests on her when I first met her five years ago,” Kaede cut me short. “I obviously didn’t do anything to hurt her, but at the same time, some of the techniques were…well, they were a little scary.”

After the crude explanation, I understood what my old friend meant. “I guess that makes sense.”

I finally took a seat on the cushioned chair I had been sitting on earlier as Kaede lowered her voice while looking toward the entryway Lilith had exited the room through. When she was sure the blue-skinned beauty was back upstairs, she finally queried, “What happened to Albert, Marcus?”

With a heavy heart, I told Kaede the entire wretched tale. I told her everything I knew from what I had viewed on the video reels to what had happened since I first arrived on the scene. I left nothing out.

Kaede let me tell the entire story without interrupting. When I was finally done speaking, I was a little surprised when the first thing she said was, “Lilith is one of a kind, Marcus. She’s special to this world in ways you and I will never be able to understand. She’s something different, and with her, I think there’s an actual chance that maybe we’ll someday be able to understand certain truths about our past and future that we never would’ve imagined possible before.”

I was pleasantly surprised. I thought for sure that Kaede would have some kind of juvenile comment about the fact that Lilith and I had engaged in coitus.

“Marcus,” Kaede then broke into my thoughts, “What do you plan on doing once you leave here?”

“I’m…I’m not really sure,” I responded as I scratched the back of my head. “I thought I would take Lilith away from here…”

“She can’t go with you, Marcus,” Kaede solemnly cut me off.

“Huh?”

“I know you don’t want to hear this from me,” the exotic beauty spoke up, “But you can’t take her with you. The world isn’t ready for her yet.”

I had so many things I wanted to retaliate with…but none of them escaped my lips. After all the praise Kaede had just given the blue-skinned angel…

“What I’m saying doesn’t come from malice or anything of the like,” the black-haired beauty did her best to explain since she knew exactly what I was thinking, “But you have to think about Lilith and her safety. You and I both know that the world is a crazy fucking place. There are people out there who would hurt her just for the fact that she looks different…let alone if they found out what she truly is.”

I understood everything Kaede was telling me…but it sucked. I obviously didn’t like what she had to say. “You can’t expect me to…”

“Do you plan on living here for the rest of your life, Marcus?”

Again, my old friend had caught me off guard. “What are you talking a…”

“The only way you can ensure Lilith’s safety would be by staying here,” Kaede told me. “Albert managed to keep her shielded and sheltered from the public eye here for over two decades, but are you going to do the same? Something tells me you aren’t going to be able to sit in one spot for very long…”

I wanted to come back with a witty retort, but I knew Kaede was right. I may not have told her about what happened to me five years prior when she had been in the process of meeting Lilith for the first time, but the raven-tressed hottie could tell just by looking at me that I had been through something life-changing. She knew there was no way I would be able to stay in one spot for very long…even if I wanted to. I had to remain constantly moving for the foreseeable future thanks to certain truths I had learned.

Kaede suddenly lifted her right sleeve and peered at a watch on her wrist. “The others should be here soon,” she told me. “Once you meet the crew, you’ll see that they’re good people. I’ll have Watts take a look at your vehicle, and then we’ll finish up everything here. We’ll take care of Antenora’s body and watch over Lilith. You’ll have my number so you’ll know you can always contact me and come see her. She’ll be safe in our hands. What do you say, Marcus?”

I still didn’t like it. The thought of being away from Lilith caused me physical pain in my gut…but I knew that my old friend was right about everything she said. In a way, it was nice to see that the path she had gone down in life – the one less traveled, of course – had brought her to such a destination and kept her the strong person I always remembered her to be.

It wasn’t going to be easy, but I finally agreed with the black-haired beauty. She knew I was shaken up by the decision, so she made her way toward me and gave me a reassuring hug. I patted her with one hand as I began tearing up.

I had no idea how I was going to tell Lilith goodbye.

                    *

“Well,” Kaede spoke up as she placed her hands on her hips, “It would appear that Watts was able to get your truck up and running. Anytime you want to take off, you’re good to go.”

I stood in the center of the cul-de-sac located on the middle of the vast property with my old friend. I turned my eyes in the direction of the chicken coop and saw two of Kaede’s fellow crew members having a conversation with Lilith roughly twenty-five yards away. I was glad to see that the blue-skinned beauty looked happy. After everything she had been through, she deserved to have joy in her life.

Kaede noticed me staring at the fabulous fiend and told me, “If it means anything to you, you definitely had a hand in saving her life. Without you, who knows what Antenora would’ve done to her.”

I shook my head since the statement came off as rather ironic to me. “I think you have that all wrong, Kaede. Lilith saved me. If it hadn’t been for her…”

“Yeah, yeah,” my raven-haired compeer spoke up with a sarcastic chuckle. She crossed her arms as she recalled what I had told her earlier, “It was Lilith who bashed the crazy broad in the back of the head with a lead pipe…”

“I’m not talking about that,” I cut my toned and fit friend short. My eyes went back to her as I said, “I stumbled upon Lilith when I needed someone like her the most. If not for her…” My voice trailed off as my eyes went to the ground. I fought back the tears that I knew were going to be inevitable.

Kaede shook her head. With concern in her voice, she asked in a barely audible tone, “What happened to you, Marcus? What drove you to this and has you on the run from a normal life?”

I couldn’t help but respond with a laugh. I then shot back, “That sounds almost ironic coming from a girl who lives her life on the road looking for other peoples’ ghosts!”

Trying to remain serious, the raven-haired stunner countered with, “At least I live my life the way I want to. When I listen to you speak, you make it sound like you’re moving from place to place because you have to.”

I didn’t really have a retort.

Kaede then glanced in Lilith’s direction as she told me, “Pretty incredible story about her, isn’t it? It seems like it was Albert Vinsfield’s destiny to buy this house with his wife so he could find that old map and build a shed next to the well all those many years ago. Had none of that happened, he would’ve never met Lilith and taken her in…and we wouldn’t be here today.”

I also stared at the blue-skinned angel as I pondered Kaede’s words. Albert Vinsfield had raised one of the best women I’ve ever had the honor of knowing, and even though it ended up costing him his life, I knew in my heart that he would have done it all over again if given the choice. Had I been in his shoes, I would’ve done the exact same thing.

The black-haired beauty next to me couldn’t help but laugh in an impish manner as she lowered her voice and told me, “You know, I have to admit that I’m a little jealous of that little succubus!”

I turned my attention toward my old friend as my face crinkled up. “Huh?”

Kaede’s eyes returned to me as a devious smile formed on her face. “You do realize that she was able to ‘go all the way with you…’ and that’s something I can’t even boast!”

I did my best to laugh a bit since I knew Kaede was only joking around. It may have been in poor taste in the moment, but the incredibly toned woman meant well by it.

“Hell, Marcus,” my old friend spoke up as she watched her crew members interact with the supposed demon, “We had some good times back in the old days, didn’t we?”

I nodded since my past with Kaede meant a great deal to me. “Those were some unforgettable moments in time, Kaede. I’ll always cherish those memories.”

The fit woman appeared to like my answer as she added, “Hell, maybe fate will set some time aside for us in the future so we can pick up where we left off all those years ago, huh?”

“You never know,” I responded as I shoved a hand into my pocket and pulled out her card. “I have this, so you never know.” I then thanked Kaede again for everything before awkwardly holding my hands up and going for a hug. She laughed as she returned the embrace and we had a moment. I did my absolute best to turn my hips the opposite way in case anything happened down below. I knew my raven-haired friend wouldn’t have minded, but I had someone else swimming through my head in that moment…

After releasing me from the embrace, Kaede looked me in the eyes and nodded as she smiled. I knew she was telling me to be strong without actually speaking the words, and I knew I had to do just that as I sucked it up and made my way toward the enchanting young woman who had changed my life. I wasn’t prepared for what was about to happen.

Kaede’s crew members who had been speaking with Lilith under the afternoon sun on the lot saw me coming and took their leave. They knew I needed a moment alone with the blue-skinned beauty.

I met Lilith’s eyes and knew I’d never be able to hold it together. She was such a pretty girl and deserved nothing but the best life had to offer. I wondered in that moment how things would have turned out if Antenora had died before killing Albert. I knew it was a horrible thing to think, but had the old bat kicked the bucket before offing her old man, her husband would likely still be alive and able to raise Lilith in peace…

“Marcus,” the angelic voice interrupted my vile thoughts. “How are you?”

“Well, I’ve been better,” I honestly answered as I nervously scratched the back of my head and tried to find the right words for the occasion. “I guess I’m doing okay.”

“Me too,” Lilith answered as she did her best to smile.

The young woman was too smart. She knew what was coming. I had to come right out with it, but since I now knew that she was no longer the quiet, repressed girl I had first met, I wasn’t sure how I was going to break the news to her.

“I love you, Marcus,” Lilith suddenly told me. She stepped forward and threw her arms around me as she placed her head on my right shoulder and told me, “And because I love you, I’ve decided I have to let you go.”

I thought Kaede had caught me off guard earlier, but now I was certainly thrown for a loop. “Huh?”

“I don’t want to keep you tied down with my demonic powers of bewitchment. I want you to be free of me.”

“Lilith, you never cast any kind of ‘spell’ on me or anything of the like. I fell for you because I legitimately cared about you…and I still do.”

“And I care about you, Marcus…which is why I’ve chosen to travel with Kaede and the others.”

It was still astonishing to hear Lilith speak normally again…and certainly heartbreaking at the same time since she was calling it off with me.

“Marcus, I want to go out into the world and learn about myself the way my father always intended for me to do. I would love to have you along for the ride, but I know it’s not something you can do right now. I know you have your…own demons to face.”

The irony of her statement didn’t go lost on me.

The blue-skinned beauty placed her hands on my face and gave me a passionate kiss. She put her all into it…and I wish I would have done the same since I wasn’t sure if it would be the last time I ever shared such a moment with her. I was by no means half-assing my end of the kiss to be a dick; I just didn’t want my time with her to be at an end. I guess in a way, I was being a big baby.

After Lilith released her hold on me, she looked into my eyes and told me, “I’ll always love you, Marcus Veovin. You changed my world in more ways than you’ll ever know.”

I did my best to smile as I gave her a loving pat on the left arm and informed her, “You did the same for me, Lilith…and you did it when I needed it the most.” I felt those tears from earlier getting ready to rear their ugly heads. I had to keep it together…

Lilith threw her arms around me one last time. After squeezing the life out of me, I saw her suddenly take off back toward the house. She had an arm over her face, and I knew it was because she had also been attacked by the tear-jerking monster.

I was about to let it all out when Kaede suddenly made her way up to me with a reassuring smile on her face. I did my best to hide the fact that I had been ready to break down as the raven-tressed stunner told me, “She’s going to be just fine…and so will you.”

“I know,” I responded as I ran a hand over my swelling spheres. When I finally had my bearings, I looked my old friend dead in the eyes and told her, “You take care of her, Kaede. She really is…an angel.”

“I promise,” the fit female said with a nod. “You have my word, Marcus.”

I also nodded in order to thank the kindhearted woman.

“And Marcus?”

I finally met my old friend’s orbs.

“You be careful out there on the road. You know who to call if you need anything.”

I nodded once and took one final look at the surrounding property. I know we all struggle with demons and do what we can to keep them at bay, but I believed I was the one guy in the whole world who didn’t want to hide from his. My personal demon may have started as an internal struggle, but it ended with a beautiful relationship that I didn’t want to see come to an end. I thought about the irony of that as I began dragging my feet toward my fixed pickup.

It was time to hit the road again.

                    *

I’ve never had much in the way of musical talent, but as I drove down the highway with my right hand on the wheel and my left arm leaning on the door where my window was rolled down, I hit a few notes that even some of the most famous of musicians would have been envious of. I may not have been the happiest guy in the world, but I sang along with my radio as I continued my journey into the unknown. I would’ve preferred having Lilith by my side while doing so, but I could take solace in the fact that she was free from Antenora’s clutches and was with people who would take good care of her. She had a shot at living a real life, and I knew that Kaede would do everything she could to see that my blue-skinned angel had a fair shake at it.

So as I wrap this story up, it seems a little ironic that it’s ending in the same place where it originally began. Most tales end with walking or driving off into the sunset, but this one is a little different. Instead of a sunset, it ends with a sunup.

As I gazed through my windshield and watched the dawn of a new day, I knew that somewhere out there, my angel was staring up at the same sunrise and looking forward to a bright, new beginning. It should come as no surprise that the beaming light from above reminded me of the angelic rays that I had seen radiating from a blue-skinned beauty’s face at one time. I smiled as I took note of something else that seemed rather poignant to this tale:

I was well out of range of any “magic” Lilith may have been capable of, and I still loved that wonderful woman with every fiber of my being.

END OF LILITH’S TALE