Lilith
By Dan Stein

          Lilith stared into what had been her closet. What was once full of dresses, lingerie, and shoes, was now a view into another world. Lilith wasn’t completely surprised by this. She’d been dreaming of this world for weeks now.

          The view showed a flat, dry landscape. It was a desert, populated by only the sparsest of plant life. In the distance, Lilith could see mountains that seemed to extend higher than any earthly mountain ever had. The one part of the landscape that Lilith’s attention was most drawn to was the lone shack sitting a mile or so out from her viewpoint.

          “So, it’s come down to it then,” Lilith spoke to herself. Her voice sounded cracked and dry. Despite her lack of surprise, the initial shock upon opening up the closet had sapped her saliva. “I’d better bring some water then.”

          Lilith turned around and headed out of her meager bedroom. Once into her apartment’s kitchen she grabbed a blue water bottle bearing the logo of Laura’s Kitchen, the restaurant she worked in. In a way, she thought it was fitting to take that particular bottle. After all, she’d never be going back to work. She filled the bottle from the tap, and added ice cubes from her refrigerator.

          She left the kitchen without another look. She wouldn’t miss it. She regarded the bedroom the same way. There were some good memories here, but that was all long past. Lilith returned to the closet.

          “I’m coming, lover,” she spoke to the landscape.

          Her lover’s voice came from the air, “I’m waiting for you.” As with every time she’d heard her lover, she had to repress a shudder. There was something intrinsically sinister about his voice, but Lilith knew he would never harm her.

          Lilith stepped through the threshold of her closet. All at once the she felt the cruel winds of the desert slam against her, tearing at her bare skin and clothes. The wind brought the smell of old decay with it, and she had to suppress her suddenly rising gorge.

          She turned back and saw that the doorway had disappeared. Again, Lilith wasn’t much surprised. She’d known once she entered the alien landscape she wouldn’t be going back to her apartment.

          She looked up and saw thin, black light streaming through the dense, red clouds overhead. Wherever the light touched the ground it left scorch marks. Lilith made a note to pay attention to breaks in the clouds and make sure to avoid them. If the light was enough to scorch the ground, it would be enough to cook her.

          “You must move quickly, my dear,” her lover spoke. The voice came from all around her now, as if it had possessed the air itself.

          Lilith broke into a trot. She wasn’t an old woman, only in her mid thirties, and she kept in shape, so she thought she could keep this pace up until she reached the hut. As long as nothing got in her way, she thought she’d reach it within a half hour.

          It wasn’t long before she realized that she would be unable to keep up the pace. There was something about the dry, howling wind that stole her breath. After three minutes of jogging, she felt herself almost hyperventilating. Lilith dropped to her knees on the hard ground, kicking up a dust cloud that only intensified her lung seizures. She wheezed sickly, and tried to call out for her lover’s help.

          “Lilith,” his voice came. “You have to hurry. We must complete the ritual soon or you will be unable to survive in this environment.”

          “Coming,” she panted. “Won’t fail.” She drank deeply from her water bottle, easing her breathlessness somewhat. Slowly, she rose to her feet and started walking again.

          After several more minutes, the cabin didn’t appear to be any closer. “Why is it so far?” Lilith asked, panting.

          “I’m sorry, my dear. The doors can only be opened at certain points and at certain times. This was as close as I could get you,” he said.

          “Why won’t you come out and meet me? Can’t we do the ritual here?”

          “I’m sorry,” her lover responded. “I have to prepare here. I cannot leave. If I were to come to you and try to do the ritual, it would kill you.”

          “I understand,” Lilith wheezed and stepped forward.

          Lilith’s wheezing transformed into a scream of shock. Without warning, a thing that vaguely resembled a horse was standing in front of her. She was sure that it hadn’t been there before, but it stood there now all the same. She stared at it, numb, waiting to see what it was going to do.

          The thing lifted it’s stubby, scaled face and looked at her expectantly with puffy, yellow eyes. It raised its cloven hoofed leg and stamped the dry ground, sending up a noxious cloud that sent Lilith into another coughing fit. The horse-thing whuffed at her. The sound was impatient.

          “There, my dear,” her lover spoke. “I’ve done what I can to help your journey. The Formorian is under my control. He will not harm you. You can ride him.”

          “Thank you,” she gasped, warm in her lover’s compassion. “Thank you. I’m coming.”

          She felt a familiar sense of apprehension when she neared what her lover had called a Formorian. The beast exuded the same sinister aura that her lover did. I can’t stop now, Lilith thought. I’m so close to him. So close. I won’t stop. She mounted the horse-thing, which was equipped with a saddle that definitely was not leather.

          Without her prompting it to do so, the Formorian turned and trotted toward the shack. Lilith held on for dear life, feeling her energy, her very life, slipping away more and more by the second. It was all she could do to keep from falling off.

          It was becoming hard to concentrate. Lilith had to focus her entire will on the simple act of breathing. Is this what drowning is like? she wondered absently. Black spots were beginning to appear in her vision. She felt her grip on the beast’s reins begin to slip. Lilith slipped sideways, the black spots in her vision blossoming into stars…and was shocked back to reality when she was gripped and lifted upright on the horse-thing’s back again. “What?” she croaked.

          Her question was answered when she glanced down to see rudimentary arms coming from the Formorian’s flank were now holding her firmly in place. Arms? She giggled, feeling light headed. She laughed, but it quickly turned into another fit of coughing. Water, she thought. Water. But her hand was empty. She’d dropped the water bottle somewhere. There would be no relief until she reached the shack.

          Lilith strained to raise her head and smiled at what she saw. The shack was much closer now. “Almost there,” she whispered. “Almost there, lover.” Her vision went black.

          “Wake up!” her lover yelled. His voice held command, but it was gentle. How she loved that voice. It was frightening sometimes, but at other times it was so tender. So loving. She was so happy he had chosen her. No other man had ever chosen her. She was loved. Finally, she was loved.

          Lilith opened her eyes to behold the face of her lover for the first time. His face was thin and pale. His eyes were light, but his hair was as black as night. Lilith drank in the contrast. He wore simple brown robes. He was beautiful, as Lilith had known he would be. Beautiful in a way that was both regal and terrifying. Lilith was overcome with emotion. “I love you,” she tried to say, but no words would come out.

          “You made it, my darling,” her lover said. “But you are so close to death. I must perform the ritual now.”

          Lilith hadn’t even realized that she was no longer outside. She was lying on a table of some sort, staring up at a blank, brown ceiling. It took her strained mind a moment to piece together that she was now inside the shack. The Formorian had got her there safely.

          “There will be pain, my love, but it will be over so very quickly. Do not be afraid,” her lover said, disrobing. I’m naked too, Lilith suddenly realized. Wait, is he…? Yes he is. I’ve waited so long for you. For this.

          Her lover mounted her and kissed her softly. She felt his breath enter her, and all at once she was no longer thirsty, no longer mute. He’d rejuvenated her. And if he could do that with just his breath, what could he do with the rest of his body? Lilith did not have to wait long for her answer. Her lover spread her legs gently and placed himself inside of her. Her bodied offered only the slightest resistance, and she gasped as her maidenhood was obliterated. Fire erupted inside her, starting at her crotch and traveling swiftly up her body. “Amazing,” she gasped. Amazing.

          Her lover began to chant as he thrust inside her. Each word was accompanied with his movements in and out. In. “Jis.” Out. “Mit.” In. “Kolo!” There were more words, but Lilith no longer heard them. The fire in her body was becoming uncomfortable, somehow frightening. There was still pleasure. Oh yes, so much pleasure, but it was starting to hurt too. She wanted to ask him what was happening, but she could only moan.

          The moan became a scream as the pleasure was lost in the pain. It intensified, building louder and louder until her vocal cords snapped. Now it was just a wheeze, but the agony continued to build. What’s happening? she thought. Is this normal? Then, the pain blocked out thought as well. And still, her lover chanted above her, thrusting in and out. In and out.

          A new sensation made its way through the pain. Lilith felt her body begin to change. Her hair fell out and was replaced by thick tentacles that sprouted from her skull. Her neck opened up, producing a second mouth. Lilith found her voice had returned. She though she would scream again, but her new mouth said only, “Yes! Oh, yes!” And that was right, because the pain was unimportant now. She was alive, moreso than she had ever been before. Her legs grew longer, sprouting a second knee joint. “Oh, yes!” Her arms melded down to the elbow into the sides of her torso. “Oh, yes!” Her breasts grew and began bleeding from nipples that would never produce milk again. “Oh, YES!” And finally, her lover climaxed, nearly shrieking the last syllable of the ritual.

          Lilith grasped her lover close, licking the side of his face with the forked, black tongue sprouting from her second mouth. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear.

          Gasping, he replied, “And I, you.” His hand wandered to her breast and massaged it. Lilith moaned at his caress. She was complete now. She was loved. She was whole. It felt so wonderful.

          “What now?” she asked.

          Her lover rose up on his arms and looked deeply into her eyes. “Now you will be with me forever. And I will love you. And you will love me. And we will both love our son, for he will be very important.”

          “Our son?” Lilith said, shocked with delight. She was going to be a mother? She and her lover were going to have a son? “How do you know?”

          “I know, my love. I know.” Her lover smiled down at her, and there was no longer anything sinister about him. He was perfect. She returned his smile with both her mouths. “What do you think we should name him?” he asked.

          Lilith considered it. She had a sudden idea, and was certain that it was right. Their son would have this name. “Jeremy,” she said. “His name should be Jeremy.”

          “Then it shall be,” her lover said. “And he will be the greatest of all the Nihilihin.”