"You'll see," I say to her then step out of the elevator as she followed closely behind. We walk through a crowded lobby receiving the occasional stares from people around us.
Even though the tailed Lilith now wore a coat to cover herself, her curvaceous body could not be hidden so easily. Our height didn't help us stand out any less either.
We finally got out of the building, only to be met by a busy street again. "We need to find someplace that isn't crowded to open a gateway, my time is almost running out," I say to the tailed Lilith.
As my human form was reaching its limit, an aura of death leaked out of my body. This caused the people walking past me to feel cold and faint as an unholy fear creeped into them.
There was plenty of life around me. I felt most drawn to the souls. However, I could feel a familiar force repelling me from them, like two magnets with like poles coming together. It was like having energy all around me, but I was incapable of accessing any of it.
"Master, through there. There's an abandoned alleyway across the street," the tailed Lilith said. I snap out of my daze and immediately cross the street without thinking twice. Pain slowly started to spread from my back to the rest of my body with each step I took.
The moment I stepped onto the street, a bike courier suddenly knocked my body. Despite the collision, I stood upright, unfazed by the collision. The bike, on the other hand, had its front wheel bent horizontally.
I look at the man, who is now on the floor, and notice he is different from other humans. His entire body was glowing and emitting a similar presence as the golden gate at the end of the narrow path.
"I'm sorry sir, I didn't see you crossing. Are you okay? I should have been more observant, haha," the bike courier said with a slight chuckle. It was strange seeing him pay no attention to the bruise on his knee nor the damage to his bike.
"I'm in a little rush right now, but here. Contact me if there are any medical bills that need to be paid," he says to me as he writes his contact ddetails on a piece of paper then hands it over to me.
He then picked up his twisted bike and ran off. "Does he have a screw loose or something?" I ask myself out loud.
I then look at the paper on my hand and crush it, no longer having time to think any more about it. I throw away the paper, disregarding the whole experience.
Finally arriving in the alleyway, I hand over my belongings to the tailed Lilith. Lest they get destroyed when I turn. The tailed Lilith then received the items and opens a gateway beneath our feat.
We then drop in the middle of a field as I finally revert back to my 7ft reaper form. All the plant life around us began to decay as the aura of death spread out around the area.
"It's getting exhausting maintaining my human form, even now I can still feel some fatigue," I say out loud then stood up.
"You!" I say looking down at the tailed Lilith as my turquoise eyes burned with a raging flame.
"Stand upright on your hands!" I commanded. The tailed Lilith then proceeded to do as she was told.
"Now on one finger," I added. Without retaliating, the tailed Lilith followed the command yet again. "Now stay like that and do not disturb me!" I say to the tailed Lilith then fly back to the house.
*3 months later*
"Master… Master… GRAYSON!!" The tailed Lilith shouts in an attempt to wake me up. I immediately lift my head from the bed in a rush and sit upright. "What is it? I thought I told you not to disturb me," I say to the tailed Lilith, clearly annoyed by her intrusion of my nap.
"Whatever, this crazy woman won't stop calling you. It seems important," the tailed Lilith responds in an even more annoyed tone. She hands me over my phone then it immediately started ringing again. I look at the caller ID and see the name Anna with a heart emoji.
Not paying any mind to how her name had been saved, I accept the phone call.
"Hello Anna," I say holding my phone to my ear. "Grayson! Wh- where the heck have you been? It's like you live under a rock!" She says in frustration. "I've been asleep. Did something happen?" I ask casually.
"OH REALLY? YOU'VE BEEN ASLEEP!" She shouts over the phone. "I don't care what about what you've been doing. Just come to the office, NOW!" She adds. "Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes," I say to her then hang up. I look at my call history and…
"75 missed calls!!" I say then look towards the tailed Lilith.
"She's been calling almost every day, it was getting annoying," she says defensively. "How long was I asleep for?" I ask. "Almost 3 months," she answers.
"How the heck have I been sleeping for 3 months? Why didn't you wake me up…?" I ask out loud. Suddenly I remembered the punishment I gave her and how I said I did not want to be disturbed.
"Don't answer that," I quickly said.
The tailed Lilith smirks then proceeds to say, "Your reaper form doesn't need rest, you can be up for centuries without sleep no problem. Your flesh form on the other hand is like a piece of paper trying to hold back a flood.
Imbue it with enough energy and it will just barely manage to. But at the end of the day, that's not what the paper is made for. The human body was not created to contain the dark cloud's immense power.
This power isn't infinite though. Each time you take the dark cloud within your body to maintain your flesh, it drains your energy. If you do it frequently, like the way you have been doing, you would need some time to regain that energy.
The fastest way to do that is through sleep. How long you will sleep depends on how frequently you change to your flesh form. Once a month should be fine, but you have done it 3 times in a span of 1 week. Clearly your weak body can't handle it," she says clearing things up.
"Humans probably can never train their bodies enough to contain such power right?" I ask. "Now you get it," the tailed Lilith answers with a look of superiority.
"I'll just have to be more careful now," I say then get up from my bed, change into my flesh form, then put on some clothes. "Go put some clothes on. I'm not taking chances with you again," I say in a rush.
The tailed Lilith then rolls her eyes and proceeds to wear my mother's clothes. She put on my mother's iconic black, skintight leggings and a bright green t-shirt that did little to contain the melons that were her breasts. As soon as she was finished she opened a gate in front of us.
"I guess you don't need underwear?" I say to her before walking through the gate. We then appeared in the familiar alleyway and immediately started pacing towards 450 Park Avenue.
This was the first time I walked into the building without masking my presence. I never paid any mind to the security procedures everyone has to go through before getting to the elevators.
However, as soon as I showed my ID, I was actually escorted to the elevator by a receptionist who called me by name.
"I hate coming here," I say to the tailed Lilith on the way up. Surprisingly she was silent throughout the whole way…. 'Just the way I like it,' I thought to myself.
We then stepped out of the elevator and walked towards Anna's office, receiving the occasional stares, smiles, and "congratulations." 'What the hell happened these past 3 months,' I ask myself.
I walk into Anna's office alongside the tailed Lilith who still hasn't said a word till now. "Grayson! Good, you're finally here. I'm going to get straight to the point. Your book is amazing. It has challenged the minds of multiple Philosophers and scientists alike.
Some professors are even using it as a reference/guide in universities. We have never received such ratings from our books before, not since your mother's book "Purpose".
With the way these ratings keep rising, it will eventually surpass it!" She says with surprisingly no emotion, clearly still holding back some piece of information.
"I believe that's a good thing, but that's not why you called me here. So, what's wrong?" I ask. Anna breathes out a long sigh then walks behind her desk to take a seat.
"Although your book has become quite popular, it has also caused some negative results to a significant amount of people," she said disappointedly.
"What do you mean negative results?" I ask already knowing exactly what results they yielded.
"Ever since the book got published, there has been a spike on suicide victims and suicide attempts from different corners of the world.
There still isn't enough proof to tie the suicides to your book. However, from what I have gathered, most of the suicide notes left behind from these people have one thing in common…the phrase "Humanity is a mistake"!
People are starting to talk and are blaming your book for the loss of their loved ones," she says depressingly.
"I never suggested or implied for anyone to take their life in that book. Any decision that they made after reading it is their own," I say to Anna trying to fain surprise.
'This was too easy,' I thought to myself. 'Humans are so weak hearted. Of course I knew about this, how could I not? I can feel the lifespans of these weak hearted fools strengthening me. This was part of the plan from the start,' I continued my chain of thought letting a smile slip.
I began to view the victims all around the world through the eyes of my shadows. Many of them are still ending their lives, believing life is pointless to keep living. Here I am, getting rich and stronger from all of it….
'Hold on… what are you doing?
No, not you!' I thought to myself in panic as I watched someone, I never expected, try to end their life.
"What is with that smile on your face? Does this amuse you?" Anna asks me with a disgusted look. "Of course not. I never wanted anyone to lose their life in my attempt on showing people the truth. I need to get on top of this!" I said in a sudden serious tone as I tried to feign empathy.
Pretending to becompletely taken by the news that Anna had delivered, I quickly storm out of her office.
"I must say, this was quite brilliant," she says to me with a smirk. I pay no attention to her and rush towards the elevator. Anna was a little worried about the families threatening to sue, but in the end she was little devil.
What truly mattered to her were the dollars, and this book was bringing them in by the boatload.
'I didn't consider *her* being affected by this,' I thought to myself. I press on the elevator button pointing down and wait for the elevator to come up.
"As soon as we are inside, open a gate to the top of the Empire State Building immedi-," I say turning turning back, thinking the tailed Lilith would be behind me. I look back and see a familiar man talking to the tailed Lilith.
"Hey, you're Lilith right? I don't know if you remember me, we talked a little last time you were here. Well, I did most of the talking, haha. I'm Ben. I was wondering if maybe we could…" he tried to finish saying until I cut him off.
"We need to go!" I say to her, not paying the man any mind.
"Hey, what's your deal?" He asks angrily. "Get in my way again and I will kill you myself!" I say to him, putting pressure on him.
We then left the man crying on the floor and wetting his pants. I couldn't help but smile at the site of it.
"Now, open a gate to the top of the Empire State Building," I say to the tailed Lilith after we were safely within the elevator. She raised her hand in an attempt to open a gate, but nothing happened.
"What are you waiting for?" I ask her. "I can't," she replies. "What do you mean you can't? Stop being stubborn and open the gate," I say impatiently. "I'm not being stubborn, I really can't.
There must be someone there greatly protected by Theós. Her light won't allow me to open a gate within her vicinity," she says.
"Damn it, just get me as close as possible," I command. The tailed Lilith then opened a gate beneath us and we suddenly dropped a few hundred meters from the Empire State Building.
I hid my presence and quickly ran into the tall building faster than the naked eye could see. In almost an instant I ran through all the flights of stairs and was finally at the top of the Empire State Building, grabbing the hand of the woman that was just about to fall off.
I look at her lifespan and realized something. "You were actually meant to die today, just not like this… you truly are an enigma," I said out loud.