A/N: Before you read this you MUST read the detailed summary and notes on 'God's Gift' on my profile. This story will be difficult to follow if you don't have that background. If you've already read the detailed summary and notes then disregard the comment above.
Just to warn my readers again, this story is rated M for a reason! Kidnapping, rape, violence and religious themes that some readers may find offensive.
Chapter One
It would have been pitch black for the humans when I entered their home. I was silent as the grave, perhaps even more so as, unlike the grave, I had no fear of wind tickling the grass above me or the little night animals that raced over the top of my final resting place.
I was silent. I was cold. I was death.
I was a demon woman, cursed by God centuries ago for relishing in the destruction of another creature. This is my penance. This eternity of nothing. But I do not forget God, he has looked after me throughout all my hundreds of years. Even in my penance, God does not dessert me.
Here, in this house, are my next victims. The next people in a long line of humans who have satisfied my craving for blood. The rosary around my neck catches the light of a street lamp - someone forget to close the curtains - and I take the crucifix in my right hand and, yet again, ask God why he has sent me here tonight.
Before I hunt I pray long and hard and wait for the Lord's guidance in choosing my victims. I usually prey upon those who have lost the will to live or who will pass into the Lord's waiting arms very soon. But, for all that, the Lord never leads me to blood that is sour or weak. He brings me to good blood and I always remember to thank him for it. But, tonight, I wonder if I am being tempted.
The couple in the room I am about to enter are young and healthy and have everything to live for. I wonder if God is guiding me tonight or if it is Satan tempting me. This seems like the sort of test that Satan would orchestrate. I hold tightly to the crucifix, not too tightly for fear I might crush it, and again ask if it really is God guiding me. I whisper a few Hail Mary's and, confident that the Lord has chosen that these people will be my meal tonight, I slipped quietly into their room.
I drained the woman first, simply because she was closest. I held her jaw closed and pinned her down while I drank, keeping her screaming and struggling from waking her husband. When I had drained her I moved onto her husband. I was walking back towards the front door, thanking God for providing me with such a rich and nourishing meal when I heard a whimper. I stopped and listened again and, this time, a baby started to cry.
I flew back down the hallway and into the room where the little girl - well I assumed it was a girl because the blanket over her was pink - was still bawling at the top of her lungs. I picked her up and held her close to me, before remembering I had no body heat.
What should I do now?!
In the end, I wrapped her up in her blanket and held her up against my chest, crooning softly to her. After a while she stopped crying and looked up at me with beautiful, wet eyes. Her eyes were the pale blue of all babies and I could see a few wisps of chestnut coloured hair on her sweet little head. She really was adorable.
I was about to croon softly at her again when noticed something funny about her right arm. I unwrapped the blanket and examined it closely and had to fight back a snarl of rage. Somebody had hit her. Somebody and struck a poor defenseless baby hard enough to bruise!
Some inkling of why God had sent me here to feed tonight began to swirl around in my vampire brain and, making sure I was very conscious of the tiny girl in my arms, I gave her a quick once over. There were other bruises around her mouth where someone had forced a spoon into her mouth to hard and her backside looked like one black and blue lump. Seeing her properly now I also realised that she was thinner than most babies, underfed.
I cuddled her close again and, keeping her firmly in my arms, I went into the kitchen and found some baby formula. After reading the instructions on the packet, heating it and putting it in a bottle I put it in her mouth and she sucked greedily on it, watching me with her little blue eyes.
When she was finished I hunted around for other baby things. There weren't very many. Obviously, the awful people who I'd just drained hadn't looked after her very well. I quickly sent a prayer up to God for that awful thought I'd just had and prayed that he wouldn't take my baby away, I'd already begun to think of her as my baby.
I made a sling out of a bed sheet I found in a linen cupboard so that I could put her on my back while I ran and packed a small bag with bottles, baby formula and diapers. I would stock up on what else she'd need at the next town. I wrapped her up warmly in some baby clothes I found in her room (her parents hadn't totally neglected her) and she blinked sleepily up at me before closing her eyes and beginning to sleep soundly.
I kissed her forehead and put her in the sling on my back and then left the house. As I ran I decided that I would have to think of a name for my precious bundle of joy. She was beautiful, like a flower. Perhaps Róis... but no. In English, that name translated to 'Rose' and roses were ostentatious and they pricked your fingers when you tried to pick them. They were beautiful, but it was a lustful beauty, no, Róis was not a good name for my baby.
What other flower name could I give her? Something innocent, pure... a lily! Líle, yes that was a good name. Líle.
"Líle" I said softly to the night and then I smiled and offered God several prayers of thanks for granting me a child. I might have to remain a demon woman for the rest of eternity but, finally, God had forgiven me enough for my sinful thoughts all those centuries ago and had granted me my one and only wish.
A/N: What did you think? If there's any confusion just leave me a review and I'll answer as soon as I can. Just to clear up one point, Victoria is Irish, and Líle is an Irish Gaelic name.