Everything was calm, soothing and silent. The only sound that could be heard was the rustle of the wind through the leaves. It was a surprisingly warm night, and all that peace was quite unusual for a place like that, almost as if all that stillness was nothing more than a prelude to the greatest of storms. Lilith was resting with her back leaned against the concrete wall of the factory while she played casually with the trigger of the rifle she had strapped to her hip. She had been waiting for more than ten minutes, and it was quite unusual for him to be so late, but Lilith decided not to go looking for him for another couple of minutes. At some point, she began to hear a muffled clanging coming from a distance, that made her throw an hopeful glance at the woods that covered the hills around the factory. A few seconds passed as the clanging became increasingly louder, until someone came out of the woods. The power armor was hiding the body, but in the very moment Lilith saw it, she already knew who was inside. Come on, no one other than him could be so badass to paint the Gunners' logo on their power armor.

-Hey, princess-

-Eddie. You are late- she said, without trying to mask the worried tone in her voice. He got out of his power armor, leaving it there to get closer to the girl. They shared a hug, and he gave her a quick kiss. Lilith was feeling happy, but at the same time something felt wrong. Like really, really wrong. She ignored the feeling, leaning her head on the Gunner's chest as he caressed her hair, but it didn't weaken a bit; it was almost as the air was thick with danger.

-I'm sorry, girl, but Ryder is such a pain in the ass. He stopped me while I was about to get going, just because he wanted to complain about his usual bullshit-

-Let me guess. He still wants you to put a good word for him with Wes about all that reassignment stuff-

-Well, good intuition-

The two laughed, but it was only then that Lilith noticed them. Hundreds of tiny lights were floating in the darkness. Edward noticed them as well, but didn't seem nearly as much as worried as Lilith was: he just stared in awe at the tiny lights, without doing anything at all. It was feeling almost as the lights were staring at them, and the reason why got soon clear: tens and tens of raiders streamed out of the woods, their eyes so bright and red to look like pieces of burning coal. The raiders surrounded Lilith and Edward, grabbing the Gunner and dragging him into the darkness. Lilith screamed, reaching for her rifle and trying to shoot the raiders that got Edward, but when the bullets pierced through the flesh they left nothing but bright, glowing wounds. The raiders didn't even flinch, as if they felt no pain at all, and to make things even worse than they already were Edward was still doing nothing to stop the enemies. He was just staring into space with a lifeless look in his eyes and a foolish, happy grin.

-Edward!- she cried, getting no response by the Gunner. The only answer she got was a laughter from one of the raiders, the only one wearing a power armor. He got closer to Lilith, no matter how much she shot him, until he was so close that Lilith could reach out and touch him if she wanted. A strong heat was coming from him, almost as it was flowing from the glowing wounds that Lilith had inflicted him, making her skin feel like it was burning. Tears filled her eyes, and the smirk on the raider's face grew wider, revealing his teeth, long and sharp like the fangs of a beast.

-I had warned you. See you in hell, Inferno- he whispered, before starting to laugh in her face. Crimson flames invaded everything, engulfing Lilith and the raider, but the laughter kept going on.

Lilith woke up suddenly, and it took her a couple of seconds to notice that she just had a nightmare.

-God dammit- she muttered, still panting and covered in sweat. She tried to calm down, but she gave up quickly. There was no way to calm down after one of these nightmares, and Lilith knew it even too well. The sun was rising, and Lilith gave it a blank stare, realizing that she had slept way more than she wanted. The girl sighed lightly, getting up from the mattress on which she had slept and reaching her pocket to grab a small bottle of pills. She shook it, but the bottle seemed to be empty. In a fit of rage, Lilith threw it violently against the wall, storming out of the tiny shack to get ready to go.

-Fuck this, I gotta work, no time to sleep, dammit- she muttered to herself, in a tone that was really similar to a growl. She could have used a bit of Buffout, but there was none left, so she had to distract herself from the tiredness that was overwhelming her in other ways. Lilith checked her pip-boy briefly, looking through the list of her jobs to decide what to do next, only to discover that she already had completed them all. The mercenary's expression changed from very angry to very worried really quickly, as she knew that she needed something to keep her busy after these nightmares, and she had nothing to do. Getting drunk as hell was always an option, though. She scratched her neck, staring blankly at the grass while thinking about what to do. There were various people who could need a good gun for hire. There was the Brotherhood of Steel, for example, or maybe the raiders or even the Gunners, but she didn't really want to go all the way to their bases since they were so damn far. Her eye fell on the small bottle resting inside the shack, and suddenly she knew where to go. She needed chems, alcohol and a job, and there was only one place reasonably near in which Lilith could easily find all three: Goodneighbor.

-Fine. I hope Hancock won't mind getting drunk with me- she sighed, grabbing her Gauss rifle before going for Goodneighbor.

N/A: Yeah, this is it. It will get better, no worries(?). I would appreciate if you could point out any grammar mistakes, since English is not my first language, so I can correct it. Thanks :)