Chereads / Amongst the Infernal Empire (Book 1: Alex Remembers) / Chapter 4 - Chapter 3: Love Fallen From Good Graces

Chapter 4 - Chapter 3: Love Fallen From Good Graces

As both Alex and Lilith returned to Alex's home, a woman was waiting outside with Charles. She is beautiful, tall, and vibrant with red hair. She wore a bright shade of red lipstick with dark green eye shadow. Immediately Alex recognized her from her younger years as this woman, as vibrant as she had appeared, always seemed to be around during times of tragedy. This woman popping into Alex's life would be the case of when her paternal grandparents had passed away or when Charles had been laid off from his place of employment. Her physical age made her look as though she were in her mid-to-late twenties, although Alex knew she must have been older as she looked as though she hadn't physically aged in years.

"Alex! It's me, your cousin Agatha!" said the red-haired woman as she embraced Alex in her arms. "Oh, my stars! Look at you. You've become a very beautiful, young woman." said Agatha as she took in Alex's physical appearance before turning to Lilith. "Who might you be, darling?" asked Agatha. "Oh. I'm just a friend of Alex's. My name is Lilith. Lilith Lancaster," replied Lilith. "Lancaster? I knew your father, Lenard, quite well for a long time. He was a great man while he walked the world of the living," said Agatha as she, too, embraced Lilith. "You, you knew my father? He was dead for years. How did you know him?" asked Lilith with confusion.

"That I did, Ms. Lancaster. He was a good person even though he never had the best reputation. Unfortunately, if you wouldn't mind, Charles, Alex and I have an important matter to discuss. I am indeed open to speaking more of your father at a later time," said Agatha. "Alright. Would it be alright if I stayed in Alex's bedroom until you're done?" asked Lilith, turning to Charles. "It's alright, Lilith. I'll get you when this matter had been discussed, although I'm sure Alex will have a lot of questions as well." Said Charles.

Lilith then proceeded up the stair towards Alex's bedroom. "So, what is the matter?" asked Alex as they walked towards the living room. "I truly am sorry about your brother. He was always such a good boy. He will be missed," said Agatha as she sat on the sofa. "Yes. He will be. I just hope that Mark gets what's coming to him," said Alex as she tilted her head downward with an expression of hatred. Agatha and Charles looked at each other for a moment waiting for the other person to say something. Agatha then focuses on Alex as she began to continue. Agatha said, "Well, there are two reasons why I sent you the text message. To start, Mark is dead."

Alex looked up at Agatha as she asked, "What? How?" Agatha answered, "Yeah. He committed suicide. He was found hung in his cell using his bedsheets as his noose," said Agatha. There was a momentary pause as there was a shock to Alex. Alex realized that what Lilith had said earlier in the graveyard was true. It was all true. Even though Alex didn't end his life by placing a curse on him, she couldn't find peace in the news that Agatha has brought her. Alex then remembered the Ouija board session she last had and how the spirit was her brother, Aaron. She was communicating with the help of Lilith. When she remembered this, she realized that there could be a chance that she can talk to her brother again and that she may not have to be dead to do it.

When the silence in the room seemed to drag on, Agatha continued, "As for the other thing, you will need to sit down for this. What I am about to tell you, l, myself, was very much hesitant to believe." Alex could tell that this was very serious. Even though Alex hasn't seen Agatha in years, she knew that she could trust her. "Okay," said Alex sat in the brown leather chair adjacent to the matching sofa in which Agatha was seated. Charles joined Agatha on the sofa. Agatha shifted her body forward as she looked into her cupped hands.

"Okay. So, what is this about?" asked Alex as she was feeling uneasy with what news Agatha may give them. Agatha took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, I won't be beating around the bush any longer about what I am about to say. The truth is your mother, Guinevere, is alive," said Agatha. "What? How?" Alex demanded. "Well, she had to fake her death to protect you. She loves you very much," said Agatha calmly. "Well, where is she?" asked Alex with a look of shock on her face. "Well, that could be hard to say, but I know she is coming back home. She is coming back here," said Agatha as she smiled. "Well, why did you have to disappear?" asked Alex with tears suddenly pouring down her cheeks as she placed her hands to cover her face. "l can't tell you, but what I can say is that she is coming back soon," said Agatha trying to keep Alex calm but to no avail. "You can't or you won't?!" demanded Alex.

Upstairs, Lilith was lying on Alex's bed, on the verge of falling asleep, heard several of Alex's screams. Lilith then quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the bedroom door, but before Lilith reached for the doorknob, several books fell from a shelf. The sound of the books crashing to the ground startled her greatly as she almost forgot about Alex's cries. She took a moment to look around to the room to see what may have knocked the books off the shelf before reaching to turn the door knob again. Oddly, before Lilith could make a second attempt, there was a clear and distinct woman's voice. "Calm down and sit back on the bed. Alex must come to terms with what she thought was reality," commanded a feminine, disembodied voice. Lilith was shaken by the fact that there was someone else's voice, but she knew that Agatha and Alex were downstairs. Lilith looked around the room and looked cautiously as she looked for the source of the mysterious voice. As she did so, Lilith asked, "You seem as though you may know me. But do I know you?"

Suddenly there was a cracking sound that came from the bedroom door. It was the crackle of a fire. Blue flames appeared from underneath the bedroom door as they started traveling upwards, consuming the door. These blue flames terrified Lilith as it had quickly engulfed the bedroom door. The smell of smoke was oddly out of place as it had a floral scent. Lilith fell to the bedroom floor and let out a horrified scream at what appeared to have been a tall feminine figure forming from the blue flames. The figure solidified as a beautiful, young, and voluptuous woman. The mysterious woman had pale skin much like that of cotton and even had similar features that Lilith could easily see as she gazed upon this woman's body. The woman's hair was of a shade of brunette as it was draped over her breasts, concealing her nipples from view. As for her pubic region, it was seen as she did not conceal herself.

The woman giggled as she blushed, raising a hand to cover her lips. "I'm sorry," said the mysterious woman. "Traveling through different planes of existence can sometimes mean that I have to be naked. If I do travel while clothed, the clothes will burn away," she continued. This woman then extended her hand towards Lilith to help her get back up on her feet. "Well, I guess that makes some sense, but who are you? And what are you?" questioned Lilith as the whole experience shook her. "Well, I was human at one point. My name is Elizabeth. On this plane, I am in the human form that you see before you. This body is how I looked while I was human. My mistress has been watching you for a while now. She knows of your intentions as well as your feelings towards Alex," said Elizabeth giving Lilith a smirk and a wink. Lilith blushed. "What does your Mistress want with Alex and l?" she asked. "Well, my Mistress knows you will protect Alex no matter what. You love her. My Mistress sensed this every time you had looked at Alex," said Elizabeth as she walked over to Alex's bed and sat down on it. Lilith quietly walked to Alex's bed and sat beside her naked new friend, trying to focus her view away from Elizabeth's naked skin.

"Alex is someone very special to you, isn't she?" asked Elizabeth. Lilith, no longer able to look at the surrounding room, turned her focus towards Elizabeth and asked, "Why are you asking me for an answer that you had just made it obvious that you already know it?" Elizabeth smiled and looked deeply into Lilith's green eyes while her voice was even more softly, saying, "It is because I want to also see the love in your eyes. That is something I haven't seen in a very long time. I do miss that. And something you may need to know is that Alex feels the same way. She also wonders if you have feelings as well." Lilith swallowed some saliva as she was hoping doing so would help her speak more clearly as she began to cry.

"What are you really?" asked Lilith. Elizabeth reached over and hugged Lilith, causing Elizabeth's breasts to rub against Lilith's arm making Lilith uncomfortable. "The truth is that I'm a demon. And I miss being human," said Elizabeth calmly. Lilith could feel her heart pounding ever so powerfully. She was worried that Elizabeth might feel the power beatings of her heart as each beat began to feel like the power of a hammer banging on a wooden box. "Don't worry. I will protect you," said Elizabeth kissing Lilith on the cheek. Elizabeth then whispered into Lilith's ear as she giggled, "In fact, making you squirm like this is pretty fun already."

Lilith blushed. "Oh. I'm only teasing," said Elizabeth as she released her grasp on Lilith. Elizabeth then stood up and walked towards the dresser. As she approached the dresser, Elizabeth raised her left hand, and the blue flames that engulfed the door burned themselves out, leaving no visible trace of damage to anything. "Let's see what clothes I can borrow from Alex," said Elizabeth as she started to pull open one drawer after another, collecting articles of clothing. When Elizabeth got to the bottom drawer, the physical position that her body was in revealed her anus as well as much of her vagina. When Lilith saw this, she forced herself to look away as this view caused Lilith to become aroused. "If it pleases you, then please do look. I'm just trying to find clothes that would make me more socially acceptable," said Elizabeth.

Suddenly the bedroom door opened and there stood Alex shocked that a naked woman was shifting through her dresser drawers. Lilith and Elizabeth both turned to see that Alex was very much upset from the expression on her face. "Who the fuck is this?" screamed Alex at the sight of the naked body of her uninvited guest. Elizabeth, still naked, charged and hopped onto Alex, mounting her like a koala bear as she wrapped her arms around the back of her neck and her legs around her waist.

"Alexandria!" screamed Elizabeth with delight. "l missed you so much since I had last seen you!" she continued. Alex, shocked by this gesture of affection, asked, "Do I know you?" Elizabeth giggled. "It's Elizabeth from your dreams. The only thing is, though, they weren't dreams exactly." Elizabeth explained. Alex, in her confused state, started to remember Elizabeth. For years, she had experienced dreams of traveling strange worlds and seeing the most demented-looking beings. There were a few instances in what Alex thought of as dreams when she and Elizabeth were intimate over the past few months. Alex blushed as she realized who Elizabeth is.

"Is this a dream?" asked Alex surprised that what she was experiencing was indeed reality. "Nope," responded Elizabeth as she giggled. "How are you even real?" asked Alex as she smiled as she wrapped her arms around Elizabeth's bare back and held on to her as she continued to carry Elizabeth to Lilith, who was sitting on Alex's bed before Elizabeth dismounted from Alex's torso. "You should know that I'm a demon, silly!" said Elizabeth as she walked back to the dresser to continue rummaging through Alex's clothes. While Elizabeth searched for clothes that she liked, she found a pink dildo hidden in the sock drawer. The pink dildo was roughly 7 inches in length. Elizabeth reached for the dildo and upheld it in full view of Alex and Lilith. Elizabeth, with a smirk on her face, turned to face Alex saying, "Cute toy. I really should borrow it sometime." When Alex and Lilith both realized what Elizabeth had in her hand, they blushed.

"Well then, this really couldn't have been a more awkward moment!" exclaimed Lilith turning her head to face the window to no longer face the sex toy. "Fuck you, Elizabeth!" screamed Alex with embarrassment and frustration. "Oh. I'm only teasing," said Elizabeth as she had found clothes that were very much to her liking.

Suddenly, a knocking came from the door followed by a voice as a door began to swing open. "Are you, girls, okay?" asked Agatha before noticing Elizabeth and her naked pale flesh. But when Agatha did notice Elizabeth, as she was putting on a pair of black yoga pants, Agatha merely asked, "Where is your Mistress?" Elizabeth answered, "There is work to be done before Alex can be reunited with her mother."

"Wait. Your Mistress is my mother?" Alex asked. Elizabeth turned to Alex and smiled. "Yes. You look a lot like her, Alex. Your mother, Guinevere, knows how much you suffered without her. She sent me ahead of her so that you would be protected. I know you have a lot of questions. So, feel free to ask," said Elizabeth as she puts on a white t-shirt with the phrase 'Girl Power' in glittery bold letters. Both Lilith and Alex looked at each other, hoping to see what expression the other person has before looking back at Elizabeth.

"Oh, but first, Agatha, would you please give us some privacy? I have something that I would like to discuss with these two alone," asked Elizabeth. "Sure. Just call me if you need anything," said Agatha as she closed the door. "Ok. Now, you may ask me any question," said Elizabeth as she crawled onto Alex's bed and found a comfortable sitting position as she sat cross-legged. Lilith and Alex soon, too, also found comfortable sitting positions as they mimicked Elizabeth's sitting position as they both sat in front of Elizabeth.

"Who are you?" asked Alex. Elizabeth then cleared her throat as what she was about to say would be hard. Elizabeth then explained, "When I was human, my name was Elizabeth Masterson. I was born in 1797 in what is now known as Savannah, Georgia. I died at the age of 23. It was at this time in my life that I was betrothed to a man who was very handsome and charming. He worked as a banker and came from a prominent background as his grandmother owned a plantation. We were both devote Catholics. He seemed like the kind of man that any woman would want to marry. The only issue he had was that he liked to drink. One night, I had snuck away from my parents as they had slept. I had gone to his home, where he was already drunk and played around with his musket. When I came through the door, the fool had shot me, mistaken me for an intruder. This wasn't the first time that he's caused someone harm due to his drinking. As I bled out on the floor, succumbing to darkness, the only thing that I could think of was that I wanted revenge. I wanted his blood. It was then that Lady Lamashtu heard my call for vengeance, and she answered. As you know, the rest is history. I had received what I wanted and so much more."

Lilith, feeling a great amount of empathy, reached for Elizabeth's hand, hoping to bring her some amount of comfort. "He got what he deserved," said Lilith. "I know," said Elizabeth as she lifted her right hand as it began to glow a dark, green ball of light to play out a scene from Elizabeth's life.

"It is just that most of the time when I think of him, I usually think of the good times. Even this one time, he took me out to a nice Cajun restaurant for a nice dinner on a Thursday evening. There was a nearby family that was celebrating a birthday. We both were looking over to their table. My boyfriend said to me, 'Well, I guess there are two things that this restaurant will be celebrating this evening.' Just as a nearby waiter was coming along with some food for a different table, my boyfriend stood up from his chair and approached by my side. close to me and knelt beside my chair, and as he did, the waiter had tripped over his leg, causing him to spill food over the both of us. We both laughed. "Elizabeth, my love. I know that we're both an incredible mess as of right now, but if you'd like to, I'd like to spend the rest of our lives together." He said as he pulled out a box from his coat jacket. I opened it to reveal a pearl necklace. All I could say was 'Yes.'"

"Wow. That's awesome, but how is it that you're a demon?" asked Alex. Elizabeth, with a smile, looked Alex directly in the eyes and said, "Isn't it obvious? You already know in the deepest part of your heart. You are a direct descendant of power. It is within you. It always has been. Don't allow your genetics to deceive you. Don't allow others to deceive you into a false sense of reality. Don't allow yourself to deceive you. You are power, just as Lilith is power. And just as I am the power in my own right. Your mother only helped me to realize this."

Alex, amazed and yet confused, looked towards Lilith before turning back to Elizabeth and asked, "Wait a second. Are you saying that my mother is a demon?" asked Alex intensively. "Yes. Her real name is 'Lamashtu,' but she is now a different demon now compared to how she is mentioned in the Sumerian mythologies," answered Elizabeth. Alex and Lilith then gave each other a look of confusion before Alex continued questioning Elizabeth. "Am I human?" asked Alex. "Yes, but you are the first human to be half-demon in existence. You are the first of your kind," Elizabeth explained. "Well, what was my mother like? I remember her as a very loving and compassionate woman," asked Alex. Elizabeth gave Alex a stern look. "She is like that. But I think it is time that you should go ask her yourself," said Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth said this, Alex realized that it might not be that Guinevere or 'Lamashtu' is coming to see Alex after not seeing her for a full decade of her life, but it may be that Alex will go see her. "So, you're saying that I will go to see her instead of her coming here? I was told differently by Agatha and my father, Charles," asked Alex. All Elizabeth could do was smile as she was humble that she could tell Alex some new information. "You are correct. Plans have changed. We will be going to go to your mother's infernal empire," said Elizabeth giggling just before she fell off the bed and burst into blue flames. The blue flames consumed Elizabeth's body. Elizabeth did not scream as it was clear that she was in control of it. In her state of fear, Alex tried to get off the bed before Lilith grabbed and held on to her as the fire shot up from the carpeting to Alex's bed. There was no smoke—only the mysterious blue flame-like before. Alex, still struggling in Lilith's grip as their clothes caught fire, screamed as she was the flames touched her, but the flames caused her no harm, although their clothes were beginning to disintegrate as the flames traveled more and more up their bodies. Both Alex and Lilith soon passed out as they envisioned a sequence of known and unknown symbols to them.

END OF CHAPTER 3