Lilium

Twenty

Twenty

As far as bad days went, this was probably a record low in Lilith's history. Bad start, bad middle, and now a bad end to ice the cake on her lovely, shit-tastic day.

This is Oliver's suicide all over again.

With a clenched jaw, Lilith looked Russle Johnson up and down, fighting against the urge to stare at his eyes.

Pretend he's normal, she told herself. Pretend he's just your concerned parent coming to check up on his teenaged daughter and that everything is fine.

Her hand didn't leave the doorframe. He certainly looks that way... for the most part. In fact, without the ungodly color of his eyes, he could've played the convincing role of a worried father without a hitch. From the limp quality of his thinned hair to the dark circles under his eyes...

Lilith mentally shook herself. He's not who I think I'm dealing with.

"Did... you need something?" she asked, praying he didn't hear the wavering in her voice. "I've just been here with Jack and Cole all day."

"That's a lie, Little Dove."

And... here we go. Lilith's fingers clenched around the doorframe until she could feel her pulse in her fingertips. "Excuse me?"

"I said..." Russle – no, she corrected. Abraxas - cocked his head to the side and smiled wide. "That you're lying." He stood up straighter and stuck out his jaw. "You know I hate liars."

"So you used my father's body to tell me this?"

His smile grew, revealing teeth filed to points. "I had to go somewhere after you came here." Abraxas waved around the porch. "This is a house that I cannot enter. You see?"

Though her body screamed at her not to, Lilith craned her head to where Abraxas was pointing. A bronze statue of Jesus on the cross hung over the door.

"So you --"

A fist sank into her stomach, knocking the breath from her lungs. Lilith keeled over, spraying spit all over her father's – Abraxas's! - tailored jacket sleeves. As she wheezed, hands grabbed the back of her head and wrenched her forward by the hair. She screamed.

"Don't even bother," he said into her ear. His eyes glimmered with malice. "No one can hear you now."

"Let me go!" She raised a hand to strike but Abraxas's other hand grabbed her by the wrist. His feet came over hers, preventing her from kicking. Pain bloomed across her body like ink through water. Abraxas grabbed her by the chin and ran his thumb over her lips.

"Haven't I told you it's useless to fight me?" He chuckled and let her hand drop. "Compared to me, you're weak."

He let her go. The door shut and Lilith slammed against it with a cry. Invisible hands held her wrists above her head.

"You asshole!" She threw her head back and writhed against his hold.

Abraxas adjusted his sleeves and tapped his chin. "You know... Hmm. You could escape that, if you wanted to. You could grow stronger." The tapping stopped. "But something tells me you don't really care about that."

Lilith's heartbeat throbbed in her temples. "What are you talking about?"

"Come to think of it, you've never cared about that." His eyes flashed, red to brown and back again. "To think that I blessed you with abilities you don't even use. What a waste. At least Oliver used them..."