High School Sweethearts • Melanie Martinez Story •

Chapter 7: Lilith

The nurses spun around on their feet one-by-one to face what had just risen from the ground, arms remaining behind their backs.

PLAY: 'FISHTAIL'-LANA DEL REY

There in front of them was a gigantic pink door with gold trim and floral decorations that framed the grand entryway. The doors slowly opened to reveal a pure, white void. A gasp escaped from my lips. I immediately realized what it was. I had read about it in a book somewhere. A portal.

And standing right in the middle of it was a beautiful lady dressed in an ankle-length grey gown with puffed shoulders, long sleeves that pointed at the wrist and an ornate golden corset that matched the gorgeous hairpieces and crown sat in a neat bunch of dark brown locs. Her eyes were black, showing she was magic like Angelita and me.

I recognized her. Could it be Lilith? The angel from a dream I had?

She extended her elegant arm and the left side portion of nurses bent dramatically and fell to the ground with an exaggerated sigh. Holding out the other arm, Lilith used her powers to knock the right side nurses to the floor in the same theatrical fashion.

With one final push of her arms, the locks that kept our limbs together snapped, and we were released from our stretchers. I finally felt like we had a chance.

Lilith turned round to leave back through the portal, but we ran after her, stepping over the bodies of unconscious nurses and rabbit doctors.

"Wait!" I exclaimed after her. We came to an abrupt halt in front of her. She turned back around calmly to hear what we had to say. I looked up at the celestial being admiringly.

"Why are you leaving us here?" Angelita cried, her voice wavering.

"We need to come with you!" I followed up, squinting my eyes due to the bright light radiating off the portal.

Lilith looked at us with pity, "Continue on and live your truth. Do not hold fear in your heart." Her dark eyes glistened with these words and her voice was distorted, as if from another planet.

"Please, we don't want to die here," I responded with a sob. My eyebrows slanted upwards, and my bangs covered a couple forehead wrinkles.

"You've had many bodies before this and will continue to have more. You're immortal." Her dangly, gold earrings hung on pointed ears swung as she spoke.

"But we're exhausted!" Angelita admitted with a gulp.

"We don't want to feel this anymore," I pleaded whilst shaking my head, face crumpling.

Lilith sighed with empathy, "We must feel the physical pain of this world because the only way that we can truly learn is through experience." She gave one last smile before beginning to leave through the door, leading to the afterlife.

No.

I clenched my jaw in annoyance as well as unhappiness and swallowed my heart.

"Please," I begged almost silently due to my tears, and watched her wave goodbye. The doorway closed behind the angel with a slam.

I furrowed my brows, salty tears falling down my cheek. I kept my feet rooted to the spot, waiting, pleading, for Lilith to come back. But I knew that would not happen.

She was gone.

***

"Oh no. I'm going to be late for class," Angelita spoke, checking the watch on her wrist.

We walked down the long hallway slowly, past a chandelier and a suit of armour, purposely trying to waste time.

"Who even cares at this point?" I sighed.

"True."

"I'm so exhausted," I muttered with a tut.

"The same," Angelita sucked in her lips and continued slouching.

A melodious tune faded into earshot the further we walked.

"Do you hear that?" I wondered out loud.

"I do," Angelita responded, bringing in her eyebrows in slightly in a curious way. "I think it's coming from over here," she pointed and directed us over to a set of double doors. We held our ears against it, trying to get a closer listen.

The dance music was louder now, only slightly muffled by the large wooden barrier.

"Should we check it out?" I questioned, although I already knew what my adventurous best friend's answer was going to be.

"Hell yeah!" She licked her lips in anticipation.

"Okay, on the count of three." I started. I wanted excitement.

"One, two, THREE!" We chanted together before pushing the two door handles down. We held the egress open as we admired the sights before us.

"Woah."

My sentence came out only as a whisper for I was overcome with amazement from the sight before me. We stood slightly outside the perimeter of an empty ballroom, the only furniture being a dozen ghosts in couples, waltzing together to the symphony.

They were mainly transparent, but with a slight greyish/purplish glow. Their deceased bodies, dressed in classy gowns and suits from the 1800s, trailed off the closer they got to the ground.

How long have they been here for? Must be years...

A sudden (and loud) sneeze that I had been holding in ever since we entered the room, at last appeared.

This place sure is dusty.

When my face returned from my inner elbow, the music had stopped, as well as the dancers. I felt bad, knowing I had interrupted what looked like such a peaceful moment. They all turned to face us with angry looks on their colourless faces.

"H-hello," Angelita stuttered, and I grimaced. "You all look ravishing," she added, trying to get us out of deep trouble. We began to take a few steps backwards towards the exit.

"Bewitching, even," I followed up, quickly realising my mistake when the ghosts chased after us, hands outstretched and mouths wide. They yelled out for us but we were too quick, slamming the door in their faces. We leaned against the wall in relief, also in attempt to keep the ghosts from killing us. They clawed at the door, fuming and bloodthirsty.

"We should get to class, bye," I quickly gushed to Angelita.

"Okay, see you later, bye," she agreed and we both went our separate ways, panting and terrified.

~~~~~

Who else was mad when Lilith did this lol?

I hope you enjoyed chapter 7! ♡

Word count: 1025

-Beth