*contains some gore and suggestive content*
Demon Lullaby
When
I was younger and loveless, my violent lust earned me the attention
of Mother Lilith, a rare achievement that my sisters envied me for.
I
held his heart in my hands again—the heart that
symbolized the thousands of humans I'd slain in an effort to prove
myself to her. The blood ran over my hands accusingly, but I couldn't
look away. If I raised my eyes to see beyond the heart, I'd start
down a path I couldn't turn back from.
Mother
stroked my black curls and observed the carnage with cool
satisfaction. “Beautiful, my daughter,” she purred.
A
droplet of blood, like a red tear, splashed onto my foot. I stared at
the misshapen circle against my pale skin as if startled awake from a
nightmare. My smile faltered, like black glass
cracking. I saw myself reflected in my mind, and my immortal beauty
morphed into a dark beast.
That
isn't me!
“Feast,
my chosen. You've earned their blood. Claim it for yourself,”
Mother urged.
I
raised the heart to my lips, paused, and glanced up at her. In her
radiant blue eyes, I saw my own need staring back at me, but the need
for what,
I wasn't certain. I only knew that it wasn't wanton destruction and
hatred that my metaphorical heart craved.
Mother
sensed my hesitation, and her eyes flashed like a warning stroke of
lightening. “You must not be weak like them. The humans deserve to
die for what they've done to us.”
The
scent of blood wafting through my nose suddenly disgusted me, but I
obediently sunk my fangs into the heart. The
energy from the blood slowly permeated my body, leaving behind a
trail of exhilarating tingles that grew into waves of warmth, like a
gentle ocean sending me adrift on its currents. A wave washed over
me. I allowed the sensation to take me deeper, and in my thoughts, I was like a mortal woman moaning for her lover.
“There
is more, child,” Mother crooned, her voice reaching me before I
became fully intoxicated by the blood.
I
blinked up at her, and she extended a hand towards the bloodied
corpses strewn before us like playthings abandoned by a demented,
inhuman child. I was that child.
This
is me?
Mother
took my hand and coaxed me to the man nearest. The gaping hole in his
chest where his heart should have been was an accusing void, a
reminder of my senseless violence. His arm was severed too; where it
was, I didn't know. The ballroom was littered with disembodied limbs.
I
remembered lurking the shadows of the high balcony that overlooked
the masked revelers in their oblivious splendor. My dress was sheer
black lace that hugged my and torso, accentuating my large breasts,
tiny waist, and flaring hips. As I walked, the wispy material
fluttered about my legs like scandalous mist.
From
my hiding place, I selected a few victims for the night, and as I
focused my attention on them, they simultaneously turned to where I hid in the
shadows. One after the other, they climbed the stairs
mechanically, seeking out the source of the longing I'd stirred in
them. No one noticed the few dancers missing. I led them to an
upstairs bedroom where they couldn't resist my charms.
Originally,
I'd planned to stop with the few. Their energy was all I needed for
the night, but once I'd had a taste of the revelers, I was compelled
to sample more. I became the ultimate party crasher; unable to
restrain myself, I'd dispatched the entire party to the afterlife.
Now,
I was faced with the aftermath of my lust.
Even
in death, the man's eyes were stretched wide with terror, and his
mouth opened in a silent scream. I knew Mother was impatient for me
to begin feeding, but I had all night to savor my kills. The human
authorities wouldn't realize what had happened for hours. I had made
sure none escaped once I began. But Mother's eagerness built behind
me like a storm. I didn't want to look at her again because I knew
what I would see behind her eyes if I did. Mother hated the humans
more than she loved her very existence, and even to one of her
children, her hatred was a fearsome thing to behold.
I
was raising my victim's remaining wrist to my lips when she
interrupted.
“It is sweetest from the neck,” she advised, her
voice a low hiss.
I
knew this too, but I hadn't wanted to be that close to him. I didn't
tell her this. I cradled the corpse in my arm like a broken doll and
tilted the head back to better expose the neck. When I bit into the
flesh and began to suck the blood into my mouth, I found the liquid still
pleasantly warm. A deluge of memories flooded my mind,
simultaneously condemning me for sentencing the man to death and
pulling me underneath the waves of pleasure once more.
I
remembered the sex first, and those memories crashed into me like a
wall of fire. I felt his demanding kiss on my lips once more and his
too eager hands on my cold body. Compelled by my demonic charms, he'd
made love to me the way all such influenced humans did, but unlike
most of my sisters, I gained pleasure from the act in addition to the
life energy I needed to sustain myself.
“Avitue!”
Mother's voice cut into my thoughts, and I drifted back to the
present like a drunk struggling to focus on the world. When Mother
gripped my chin in her hand and forced me to look into her face, I
snapped back to alertness.
Fury
smoldered in her eyes. “Where is your dignity? You moan like a
whore!” she spat. “They are our prey! They are beneath us!”
I
hadn't realized I'd verbalized my pleasure as I drank. Shamed, I
averted my eyes and wiped the spilled blood from my face. We were to
take mercilessly and show no emotion.
“Enjoy
the blood, daughter, for it sustains us, but do not give the humans
power over you by submitting your heart to them. They should inspire
nothing in you.”
“I
am sorry, Mother,” I whispered.
“You
will drink until you discipline yourself to act with detachment.”
“Yes,
Mother.”
“Go
to the next body and try again.”
I
did as she told me. Still, I could never completely suppress the
memories or my own emotions. I learned to keep myself quiet, but
inside me, the truth raged in violent colors. Unknown to Mother, I
allowed myself to feel, trading strength for transient, artificial
love.
