Jaycee Woods

I formatted my draft story about the blind date between Chad and Lilith. Reading it, after all this time since drafting it, surprised me. Snip from early in the story below. Good times.

***

The door closed with a click, and he saw her, for the first time, his date. She had skin so white it shined in the sunlight from the window. A single drop of blood ran down from her left eye socket like a tear.

Chad thought to himself, ‘WTF, is that some goth chick?’

His date opened her mouth to speak, but instead of words a blood curdling, inhuman scream escaped it. The scream seems to go on for eternity, until it completed in an equally horrific growl. He was not sure he had heard anything quite so terrifying in his life. The other patrons of the cafe also seem quite concerned.

Chad waved to her in greeting while wondering, ‘What terrible thing did I do to be so punished by Mary. Sure, I smashed a lot of chicks, but I am reformed and looking for a wife.’ Mary, the wife of his fraternity brother Keith, had volunteered to set up all of Chad’s blind dates.

Lilith seemed to calm a bit, and with a single finger pointed to a booth at the back of the cafe. As he walked past all the horrified bystanders, they whispered frantically amongst themselves, not sure what to make of the situation. One older woman whispered to her husband, “That thing, that creature, is surely a demon from the pits of hell!” She crossed herself.

Chad sat in the new booth with his date. “I’m Chad. You are?”

His date stared at him for a few long, tense seconds. After what seemed like an eternity, she spoke, in a low, rumbling voice, like thunder. “I am Lilith. A demon from the pits of hell, as you overheard that nice lady say.”

Chad complimented, “That is a pretty name. Is it a family name given to you by a loving mother, or did you choose it yourself?”

Lilith seemed offended. “My name comes from the very depths of hell where I was born, the pit of despair and misery. Do you think you can make a mockery of a creature such as me?” she hissed.

Chad replied, “No. I’m trying to get to know you. So, you are from hell…have you been in town long?”

Lilith paused for a minute. “I’ve been on Earth for a few hundred years, but this is the first time I’ve been to this cursed town. Why are you so friendly to me suddenly?” The corners of her mouth lifted ever so slightly.

He wondered, ‘Could this be an actual… smile? Is such a thing even possible?’ Chad said, “I thought you were my blind date. Are you here to have a date with me? Mary told me that you are a schoolteacher.”

Lilith laughed. It was a low, guttural laugh that sounds like rocks being chewed together in a tumbler. “A schoolteacher? That’s amusing. I’ve never really gotten the concept of teaching. I know so much more than anything these pitiful humans can achieve in their entire lives, and yet I’m supposed to teach these little brats? How demeaning.”

Chad asked, “So teaching is more of a paycheck for you and not a calling?”

Lilith shook her head. “Not even a paycheck. What is the point of money when you’re a demon? I’ve lived this long without the touch or taste of money, what use could it possibly have for me? No money could ever make me happy like tormenting these sad, tiny little lives makes me happy.”

Chad observed, “So, you don’t like kids? Don’t you want to be a wife and mother one day?”

Lilith’s laugh was once again deep and rumbling and sounded to him like the noise of the damned from the pits of hell. “Wife? Mother?! How could I ever hope to settle down and raise children with my lifestyle? And what demon would settle down and be a wife or mother? We’re monsters, the scum of the Earth, the very antithesis of all morality and goodness. What would a demon have to teach a child, except how to do evil?”

Chad observed, “Wow. Don’t be so hard on yourself. We have all done things in our past that we regret. Yet now and the future are open to us to choose to be better. Are you haunted by your past? Unable to accept the things you have done? Do you punish yourself still for things that happened long ago?”

“Regret?” Lilith laughed again. “I’ve never felt regret for the things I’ve done. I am the monster that lurks in the night, preying on your kind for sport. I don’t feel sorry for any of the things I do. I would do it again, but more violently this time, and I’d add a couple more things for good measure.”

Chad asked, “Really? What is your hope for your future?”

Lilith’s eyes glinted. “To make as many mortals as I can suffer and then have myself some fun at their expense. To torture, maim, murder, kidnap, destroy, corrupt and take whatever I want. My future has no limit to the pain and destruction I will cause.”

Chad began to think that Mary really hated him to set him up with this chick. “Wow you sound just like many guys describe their ex-wife. Have you been married before? Do you have any kids?”