The first thing that struck Seth was that all the lights were off in the house.
Despite having excellent night vision, Lilith always had lights on, even if there was no-one home. It made it look ‘lived in’, she would say. It didn’t matter that not a single soul ever passed here, she liked to pretend to the world that she was normal, almost human. He used to find her desire to cling to humanity quite endearing and it made her inevitable descent into vampiric madness at his hands all the more satisfying for him to watch.
The second thing that Seth noticed was that it was eerily quiet. Not a thought to be heard for miles; only an empty static, that he suspected belonged to one vicious vixen.
He wouldn’t usually walk straight in, uninvited. Perhaps it was being full of Will’s Wangshaft bravado that caused him to try the handle, watching as the door swung open to permit him.
His attention was first drawn to the living room and that infernal device! Why Lilith had obtained one of these was beyond him, but he felt that smashing it to pieces was not a polite way to start the visit.
He looked around the room, wondering why on earth anyone would choose to spend their time boxed in like this. He had never been comfortable indoors. The longer he stood there, the more restricted the space felt; the walls pulling in towards him until he wouldn’t have been able to breathe even if he’d had functioning lungs. He walked back into the hallway, composed himself and spotted Lilith.
Interesting. He crouched beside her, tried to tune in, hearing nothing but that empty static.
Wakey wakey Lilith.
There was a flicker across her face that told him she’d heard him, but her mind was completely empty. How unusual. He stood back a few paces and waved his hand to compel her to her feet. She barely shifted.
Now he was intrigued. He refused to be bested by this mystery magic.
He lifted his arm, channelled as much energy as he could, willing her to stand.
He watched as she rose up in an unwieldly fashion, her eyes blinking open, finally supporting herself but looking very confused.
She walked past him as if he didn’t exist and seated herself at the table. He stood in the archway watching as she slowly collected herself.
“Better?” he asked when she eventually focused on him.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
Clearly better. He walked over, taking the kidney from his pocket, tossing it and catching it a few times. “I would have fashioned a few organs into a bouquet but alas, I had no ribbon and intestines just don’t tie the same.”
“Still bringing me shit,” Lilith spat. “You never change.”
“It’s not for you. What happened?”
It amused him that despite her indignation, Lilith’s face had most certainly fallen upon finding out that this gift wasn’t for her.
“I don’t really know. I think it was something Faith did as she was seething. It felt like a hard shove but I’m certain she didn’t actually touch me.”
“And it rendered you helpless? Marvellous,” Seth said, making a mental note to not anger Faith again. “So where are they now?”
“I don’t know. I could only hear so much. They don’t want to live with this thing,” she grumbled, pointing towards herself. “After everything I did for that bastard, he tells them I mistreated him! Lets his friend attack me then doesn’t even check if I’m alright. None of them checked if I was alright! And they robbed me of all my stock!”
Seth could feel the rage burning inside him, doused it. He threw the kidney across the room landing it directly in the sink, pushed back the chair and sat opposite her.
“They’re gone?”
“I didn’t say you could sit. Get out.”
“Lilith, you’ve pushed away enough people tonight. Admit defeat. Game over. I can see you’ve suffered quite the brain-bollocking this evening, so let us talk. I shall not pry.”
“Makes a change.”
“Why would they attack you?”
She folded her arms. “Caleb and I were having a disagreement about his behaviour tonight and they walked in at the wrong time.”
“He was rather restrained tonight.” Seth paused, reading. “Ah, no. Wait. We’re thinking of different things.” He rubbed his jaw, trying not to smile. She had always been prudish. “It was only a matter a time before he weakened to his lust, Lilith. Vampire or not, April is a simply a body full of holes, after all.”
“Your efforts not to pry lasted all of five seconds there, new record,” Lilith huffed. “And what the hell is wrong with you vampire men?! A body full of holes?!”
“Not my personal opinion, as well you know.” He smirked as she rolled her eyes. “Your greatest mistake has always been tarring us all with the same brush.”
“Because you’re all the same! Me, me, me.”
“That beast lives within us all, Lilith.” He had completely given up on his effort not to rifle through her thoughts now. “Oh dear, Caleb. Although it couldn’t have been that bad if she still left with him? Maybe she likes it a little rough?”
“She had no choice,” Lilith spat. Seth watched as Lilith shared a memory, probably in an effort to make him leave sooner.
“Ah, I see. Kiss of death.” He didn’t really need to know more, but he enjoyed watching her glare at him as he delved into her.
“You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“I can, I don’t.” Seth continued watching until he’d seen the whole scene. “I see. And you say I’m a monster. I would say ‘poor girl’ but her brain was barren, so no great loss.”
He started to push back from the table.
“Where are you going?”
“First you want me to go, now you want me to stay,” Seth said. “I’m going to find them, of course.”
“Why bother? You don’t have any interest in any of them except Faith and she didn’t mention you at all before she left.” Lilith flashed him a wicked grin. “She’s got a nasty habit of using and losing men, that one. I think she might have jilted you.”
Seth couldn’t deny that he identified such tendencies in Faith. He clenched his jaw, but remained composed against this possibility.
Surely not. She wouldn’t dare.
His voice was calm. “They don’t stand a chance out there, thanks to you and your nannying.”
“Sure. Go and find them. Teach them to slay humans, that’ll solve everything.”
“Lilith. Your life is a misery, mine is not. Who’s methods are wrong?”
“Yours.”
“Of course. You won’t be joining me I take it? You’ll be… ah, still looking for that damn fruit. It doesn’t exist, Lilith.”
“It does. Hopefully I can find it before they all get caught and bring about another wave of vampire-hunting hysteria.”
“They won’t get caught. Not with me around. I’ve been on the run my whole life, surely I am a master of it?” Seth said, with an arrogant smile.
“Ooh look at me! I’m the ‘master’ of everything. Except showering.“
“You’re just full of love for me tonight, aren’t you? Perhaps I should have left you to rot.” Seth pushed his chair back. “Good bye for now, Lilith. I’m sure our paths will cross again.”
Seth headed towards the door slowly, not at all surprised when Lilith followed him.
“Seth?”
“Yes?”
“I tried to reach you tonight.”
“I know. I assume you were trying to prevent me from corrupting Faith?”
“No,” she answered. “From corrupting yourself. Look, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave Faith alone. She’s too similar.”
“To the green-eyed woman?”
Lilith’s voice became soft; one that spoke directly to his heart. “You asked me to do it for a very good reason. Please. Leave her buried.”
—
Chuck had parked up near a billboard with a fish on it. He was hopelessly lost. A scantily dressed woman had told him the bar was a mile down the road, but he’d driven this stretch twice and still hadn’t spotted it. The woman was nowhere to be seen this time. He got out of his car and scratched his head.
The banana sausage surprise had been every bit as awful as he’d imagined. A split banana containing a split sausage that held the ‘surprise’ element, a tuna puree. It was really taking its toll. He needed to find the bar as much to use the facilities as to look for clues. He looked around desperately. No one seemed to be about.
Check him out! Only three hours into his quest and he was already relieving himself in the woods. He felt like a cave man, a bear. Unburdened by niceties and social norms. Wild and free. It reminded him of his teenage road trip, how he’d gotten so drunk one night that he’d ended up naked in a—
Oh darn, someone was approaching along the path. He hastily aborted his mission and yanked up his jeans.
Maybe this person would give him better directions than that unscrupulous young lady had. He stumbled out of the bushes to greet the stranger. He instinctively extended a hand but changed his mind. Bit gross.
“Hello good fellow! I’m looking to get to Joe’s Bar. Can you direct me?”
The man turned slowly to look at him. It was a warm night but Chuck shivered, the air felt cold and heavy around him. He’d suddenly developed a rather peculiar headache.
The man took a step towards him, eyeing him suspiciously. Chuck felt uneasy in his presence, like he’d made a huge mistake. He was thinking of Babs and Melinda even though he wasn’t trying to.
“Joe’s bar?” he repeated, surprised at how quiet his voice sounded.
“I heard you the first time.”
< Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter >
Almost Eternal 
Seth finds Lilith in a state of enchantment.
I wonder if Faith has magical abilities? Or is this a normal ability for strong vampires?
Maybe there is still someone who has respect for Lilith?
I can see that Seth and Lilith, regardless of past anger and failure, take care of each other.
Their conversation was both sad and encouraging at the same time. Maybe I could hear a beep I can’t quite identify. Could it be love?
The woman with the green eyes. There she was again.
Seth has asked Lilith to remove the memory for a reason we do not yet know. Lilith worries about him because Faith makes the memory grow.
Now Seth travels out to find the fugitives. He believes that only he can help them survive.
Of course he runs right into Chuck! ….Why!? 😱
Once again I am left in deep silence …!
… my poor ears are overworked and put to even harder work.😬
Thank you for exciting entertainment…
I loved your first book, but not where you have left me now and I hope we do not have to wait too long for the next book to be written 🥰
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Faith’s ability will be explored more down the line.
Seth & Lilith: perhaps a shadow of love; they have a lot of history together. How much they remember is debateable.
Thanks for reading and for all your comments! It won’t be long – I’m already neck-deep in ideas and screenshots. 😁
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Oh look at that, what a nice catch up between friends. I quite enjoyed seeing Lilith and Seth have that catch up. Probably rare for them to put all the cards on the table like that.
““No,” she answered. “From corrupting yourself. Look, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave Faith alone. She’s too similar.”” Ah-hah! I knew it was Seth and not Faith Lilith was interested in “saving” that night. Never did think Lilith cared enough about Faith to try to go “save” her.
Doesn’t surprise me that it was Lilith that wiped the memory of brown-haired lady either. I would imagine Seth and Lilith performed some kind of two way mind-wipe on each other, “helping” each other leave memories that don’t serve them.
Of course Jack ended up on Hook corner. But… I’m going to cling on to a dellusional hope that Seth will not kill him, after all, they have a shared interest, they want to find the girls. Chuck is more useful to him alive than dead at the minute. Because while he can absorb his memories as he feeds, he would not benefit from his “live” thoughts as they search for Melinda. Then again, Seth is not used to practicing any form of restraint. Guess it depends on how badly he wants to find Faith, and how confident he is in not needing Chuck’s imput during the search.
Well, that was actually all more upbeat than I expected. Looking forward to see what the merry band get up to in the next season.
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Very rare because Lilith doesn’t usually invite him to sit at her table and he doesn’t like being indoors.
I wouldn’t say Lilith didn’t care about Faith, per se, but plan A failed so…
Two way mind wiping sounds messy. I’m sure it wasn’t.
I hate to poo on your pancakes, but I’m not sure that having a clumsy, chirpy human hanging around is gonna be Seth’s sort of thing…
Sorry that it was upbeat. I promise you an unescapable pit of despair in book two. 😈
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Lol, poo in pancakes, what a visual. Might hold off on breakfast 😆 I checked with Faith to see if it’s denial that I’m and she says it’s totally not, so therefore it’s fine.
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I have to admit, even though Seth is a deranged sociopath, he has a point. Lilith is the one that is miserable, and he’s not. He’s accepted his circumstances, and she hasn’t. But once he gets that memory back, it might be a different story. It’s interesting that he felt a little slighted at Faith leaving. Either he’s growing feelings for her or he just wants her for the memory. I wonder why Lilith blanked the memory? My theory is Seth was in love with the green-eyed woman, then accidentally killed her and wanted that memory wiped.
Oh no! I knew Chuck would run into Seth. And that banana sausage surprise sounds even worse than its name, yuck. Not sure what will happen with Chuck; I’m expecting the worst, but hoping for the best. 🙂
I can’t wait to read the next season! 🙂
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I suppose that doing nothing except fulfilling your own desires does make for a pretty happy existence. If only his new toy – I mean – love interest had just stayed put. Ooh another theory already! Well, you got one right so who knows?
No one fancies some banana sausage surprise? I guess I’ll have to feed it all to Robert the cat as no one else will be looking after him now.
Yay! Me neither! Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Oh, I was wondering how Robert was doing. He’d probably like the tuna. Poor Robert, maybe he’ll wander off and find a nice home for himself. 🙂
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So according to Lilith she is self-accountable for throwing away her humanity for Caleb.
According to Seth, he is accountable too for Lilith’s ‘descent into vampiric madness’.
Huh. Then again, according to Lilith’s memory, she looked for Seth. I still love how responsible she is. She doesn’t let anyone take the fall for her own actions. Amazing.
Looks like Seth doesn’t like the electric box either! So it must affect him too then? Not as much as Lilith since he can still use his powers. Faith’s powers sound like an anti-Lilith and to some extent Seth since it resists him so much at just fledgling state. Faith you boss!
I never liked tuna puree. Let alone paired it with fruit at processed meat… WHAAT? LOL. I don’t think Seth will harm Chuck. Although he does have a lot of leverage on her now
And the Wangshafts kinda since she’s their descendant. Although she’s a vamp now.
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Lilith and Seth each had their reasons for getting involved with the other and heading on their respective downward spirals. Their relationship is a complicated cake full of layers and you’ll learn more about it in book two.
Faith let rip 19 years of pent-up anger here and no one is quite sure what she did. If she can only figure out how to use this power.
Is tuna puree actually a thing? I don’t eat fish or processed meat so I thought a dish containing both should be utterly vile. 😆
Will Seth leave a human unharmed? We’ll see…
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This was so good, I’m not even sure I have the words. I’m trying to put my thought in order, but I can’t! Okay, let me try to divide it up by character:
Lilith: Taking care of others in a way that enables them is a thankless task. She has been living her whole life for Caleb, still seeing him as that bright-eyed toddler, and it hasn’t done a lick of good. She hasn’t been able to keep him under wraps; in fact, he’s even more uncontrolled than ever. She has become very in touch with her dark side because it was necessary to survive. She is carrying that guilt with her, and it’s like she can’t ever be free of it. I like seeing her with Seth because as much as she hates him and pushes him away, I think there is a part of her that feels like she can really let loose with him and not be the caretaker.
Seth: Still President of the Seth Fan Club even though I know that he is a) a straight-up psychopath and b) has 100% manipulated Lilith and Faith. I kind of think Faith is gonna give him a run for his money, and I am delighted by that. I think that he has become this monster, but there is a vulnerability there–something so raw that he’s asked Lilith to erase it?
Caleb: Is it possible to think someone is a complete fucking monster and also have empathy for them? You have managed to do that, and I don’t know how you did it. I mean, absolutely 100% fuck this dude; he took advantage of April, he is always playing the victim, and he knows that he has created another broken doll, but he is so desperate for company and acceptance that he is lying to himself about it. Caleb is a messy creature that I’m so bound to hate, but I also see how he got here and how he struggles. I feel so uncomfortable when I read him and feel for him, and it’s fucking fantastic. Bravo.
April: WHEW BOY. Okay, now that I understand that she is bound to Caleb, more of her behavior makes sense. She was just ripe for the picking. I really want to see her reclaim control of herself and kick her mother and her “vampire husband” out of her head.
Mellybean: I JUST WANT YOU TO BE LILITH GODDAMN IT. Also, your family is in danger, girl. I love Seth, but if she fucking stabbed him in the chest and somehow eliminated him while avenging her mama and protecting her adopted dad, I would not be mad.
Faith: I did not know that Faith was gonna be my fave. In the beginning, I sort of wrote her off. She was cool, but I thought I had her number. Overall, in these chapters, she has grown into something much messier and thornier, and I love it. I think she might be the one to fear most of all.
Like I cannot explain to you how much I adore this story. It’s everything you promised, and my dark little heart is full! I love your willingness to explore how broken people can hurt each other and themselves in horrifying ways. I love how you keep challenging me to put these characters in a box by pulling back a layer in every chapter. Basically, I can’t FUCKING wait to start book two.
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Damn. That was an epic binge.
Your character observations are astute and really interesting, but I won’t say too much as I might end up spoiling for book two…
However, “Is it possible to think someone is a complete fucking monster and also have empathy for them?” Yes. Totally yes.
Gah, thanks. Wow. Sorry, this response is as stilted as fuck in comparison to your essay. I’m really not good with compliments. It’s nice that you also seem to enjoy being thrown around in the emotional washing machine and don’t just think I’m deranged.
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Not deranged at all! Delighted more like it. My SimLit is romance and murder times so everything here is my jam (also I think this in a different comment but yas, honey, I had wine and went on a binge and it was #everything)
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You’re not killing Chuck. No, I don’t believe you would do that.You wouldn’t, would you?
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No character is safe.
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*sigh* Seth and Lilith are such a mess. There seems to be lots of bitterness, especially from Lilith, yet they are both trying to look out for each other. Except neither likes the way the other is trying to help them, so… it´s like two magnets that attract each other, but aren´t shaped to fit. That leads to shards.
Also, oh dang. Chuck! …At least Seth´s probably not thirsty? I dare hold onto hope, but, eeee. o.x
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‘Mess’ is a great way to describe the tattered remnants of their relationship.
At least there’s that, yes. He might not be thirsty… maybe…
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