An Immortal Kiss
Chapter 1
Welcome. It's been quite a while since I've last told my story. If you ever need to address me, call me Lilith. Before I begin my tale, it is essential that I tell you this tale is not only mine, but my lover's as well. You see, my lover is…. He's been dead for a few years now. His name I shall make known later, but for now, let us begin with my birth.
1952 Transylvania. A screaming baby girl had been brought in to this cruel, dark world. Small red locks covered with bodily fluid and blood gleaming in the light. Sky blue eyes shut as cries emitted from tiny, infant lips. Pink flesh stretched as chubby arms and legs flailed in the air above the small child.
"Hush young one. Quiet your breathy wails. Mommy is here and holding you close against my breast. Do not fear the cold, for your skin shall soon warm again as I cuddle you close and let you suckle from me as my child." A mother's gentle words rang in the small infant's ears, calming the banshee-like wails that rang against the walls. "I shall call you Lilith."
Unfortunate for this baby girl, her mother, Beatrice van Roven, was poor. There was barely enough money for a doctor to deliver her let alone enough to feed her and her single mother. The streets were their home; the only work available for a woman of her mother's stature in Transylvania was prostitution, the same job that conceived Lilith. Quite a dangerous place, it was. Creatures of nonhuman and undead decent roamed these eerily quiet alleyways and passages. The brothels are beloved by blood suckers as much as the meat houses and farms are beloved by the loup garoux (werewolves). Nowhere was safe in Transylvania.
Lilith's infancy was never innocent. Many times did the infant wake to Beatrice screaming and moaning in fake ecstasy as men ravaged her much desired body. Constant creaking of many different beds rattled the poor baby's ears, giving her incentive to cry for silence without words. Yet her mother couldn't stop her work, for it was the only way to feed their mostly empty bellies.
"Where is the money you had promised me, Beatrice? You said you'd have it by the end of the month." As normally expected, Lilith's mother's owner was looking for his salary, his cut of her earnings.
"I do not have the amount you requested, sir. Please, just give me another week to pay you and this time I promise I'll have it." Beatrice pleaded, shaking as the man loomed over her.
The man stared her down before he reached over his body and backhanded her across the face, sending her to floor. "Your shift has been doubled, Beatrice. I will not be so merciful the next time you screw up." He turned to notice the basket Beatrice typically hid Lilith in, grinning maniacally as he got an idea, a wonderfully awful idea. "Tell you what. You can pay me back by handing your little daughter over to me when she is old enough to be tamed and I'll set you free of your binds to me."
Beatrice's eyes widened as she looked at her child. She hesitated for a moment before whimpering, "No…. I will not force her into the life I have. She doesn't deserve that."
The man became infuriated by her blatant refusal of his generous offer and struck her again. "You insolent wench! How dare you turn me down?!" That night he beat her into unconsciousness, taking the money she kept in her satchel and leaving her to listen as Lilith wailed for attention. After this incident, they never stayed in one place, moving from hotel to hotel, and brothel to brothel, street corner to street corner. They were always moving, with no rest at all.
Not to anyone's surprise, the sin of this lifestyle didn't stop there. Occasionally rape occurred near the small basket Lilith was carried in. Bite marks appeared on Beatrice's body and paleness of the skin always followed. Some said she had the plague, but those who weren't naïve knew differently. She was a favorite for the aristocratic vampires that visited common streets. Even though this put a damper on the poor woman, the scent of vampire on her skin kept away the loup garoux and therefore she was protected. Life was hard, and it would only get worse.
After months of running, Beatrice was caught once more. The man that owned her tore her from Lilith and made her spend thirty days of intensive torture until she was weak enough to agree to his terms. She was bruised and battered from head-to-toe. Deep lacerations from what looked like a whip scaring her once beautiful skin in a gruesome fashion, some scars partially healed and some freshly opened. Her skin was as pale as ever, the color drained from her pores almost to the point where it mimicked snow. Her limbs dangled underneath her, her strength sucked out of her almost to the point of death. Her breathing was labored beyond belief, so silent it was sometimes mistaken that it wasn't even there at all.
The man wrapped his fingers tightly around her hair and yanked her head upwards, forcing her to look up at him. He took a short look at her before spitting into her face, demeaning her further. "Are you ready to accept my offer, Beatrice?"
Beatrice spat back at him and shook her head weakly. She could do nothing with her arms chained to the ceiling and her body so weak. The crack of a whip sounded as she was stricken again. She opened her mouth to scream, but her vocal chords made no sound.
The man yanked even harder on her hair. "Let us try this again. Are you ready to accept my offer, Beatrice?"
Beatrice couldn't handle another strike on her back, so she nodded slowly and let her tears stream down her cheeks to the floor. She had given in. She had put her daughter in danger.
"Good girl, I knew you would come around." He kissed her cheek and snapped his fingers, letting her go as one of his cronies came at his command.
"What is it, boss?"
"Get the infant and bring her to me." He sneered as he looked at Beatrice again. "We have a lot to teach our little Lilith."
"Whatever you say, boss." The guard left the room hastily.
The man turned around again and lifted Beatrice's gaze to his once more. "You will do exactly as I say. Lilith will work for me until she is no longer useful. I'll give you your instructions when she is at the age of four." He saw her nod off and yanked her back into consciousness. "Am I making myself perfectly clear?"
Beatrice nodded and passed out. She was finally let down and taken to get some medical care. She didn't open her eyes again for about a year.
For the next two years after her mother's recovery, Lilith became extremely familiar with the lifestyle of a prostitute. She watched Beatrice work and was forced to learn everything there was to know about intercourse. She watched her mother being raped, watched her mother act as if she was enjoying the torture her daughter would soon become enthralled in. At the age of four, as Beatrice promised, Lilith was separated from her again and given to her new "daddy".
Because of these experiences, the shames and cruelty of life never fazed the growingly mature Lilith. She, like her mother, grew desired by men. When she was at the age of four, it had become apparent that prettifies and freaks of all kinds became obsessed with buying the affections of her undeveloped body. She thrived in this horrid business, her new boss pushing her into every buyer's arms. This angered the toddler, but what choice did she have? Half of the time she refused to work, but her boss forced her to "fulfill" the man that paid for her company. She soon succumbed to his wishes at the age of six.