Lilith stared out of the bus window as the world flew by, as the Port Authority bus flew down the highway. Lilith lightly tapped her foot to the floor of the bus, trying to keep her excitement in check.

Other than her, there were only two other passengers and the driver, one was a old woman that got on at the last stop and sat in front of Lilith, the other was a businessman that was already on when Lilith boarded. He wore a tan suit and pants, he complained about his work to someone on his phone, Lilith largely tried to ignore him.

As the bus rumbled into downtown, the old woman turned to Lilith, "Hey deary," the woman began, "What's your name?" She asked, friendly. Lilith wasn't privy to giving out her name that quickly, but she didn't want to aggravate the old woman even more. "..Lilith Russ." She said, using her foster family's last name." The old woman gave her a warm smile, "What an exotic name, It suits a pretty girl like you." Lilith gave her a smile and nodded. "Thank you." Lilith intended to let the conversation drop, but the old woman continued.

"How old are you, deary?" She asked, "16." Lilith replied. The old woman lit up, "Oh, you're just the same age as my grandson! You're so pretty for your age. What are you doing in town today?" Lilith nodded in thanks to the woman's compliment. "I'm meeting up with a friend." She answered and old woman chuckled, "That's good, living your life! My grandson just sits in his room all day and night, I wish he'd go out and hang with friends. Maybe it would fix his behavior. Say, why don't I introduce the two of you?"

Lilith laughed lightly, nervous, "Ah, I don't think that's such a good idea."

The old woman sighed, "It figures that a girl like you is beyond him anyways. Sorry to bother you deary." Lilith shook her head, "No problem, ma'am." The old woman's eyes widened, "So polite despite being so young! Just like they used to be back in the day." Lilith shrugged, "I've been taught my manners."

The woman gave her a sympathetic look. "You're pretty, polite, and nice, a far cry from most of your kind. It's pity I have to kill you." Lilith continued to smile at the woman as her words slowly sunk in.

Lilith's smile faded, "h..huh?"

"Sorry young demigod, no, it wouldn't be fair to call you that, since you don't know yet." The old woman's eyes glowed a bright red. "Maybe it's better that you aren't like them just yet. I'm not as hateful as the rest of my kind, If things were different, I would have let you live my dear." It was just then that the bus's engine sputtered and the lights went off, it slowed to a stop in the middle of the road; much to disappointed drivers behind it. "Uh.." Lilith said, slightly rising out of her seat, but the old woman clamped a hand on her wrist, her grip was like iron. "Blame the gods deary," the old woman began as the bus began to speed up even though the engine was off.

The acceleration forced Lilith back into her seat, "that you were born, it is their lack of the ability to keep it in their pants that always leads to these situations. Don't try to fight it, relax, I'll give you a swift death." The bus sped up to unimaginable speeds, Lilith glanced up, at the end of the long road was thick concrete barrier, behind it, the Allegheny river. "Don't worry, the bus will never make it to the water, the barrier will hold, the bus will hit it with so much force that it'll crumple like an accordion, you'll be crushed without feeling a thing. Just sit back and curse all the gods you can think of." The bus's wheels began to smoke from the speed, Lilith couldn't believe this was happening, a moment of luck, she broke the old woman's iron grip on her, she got up out of the seat and ran to the side door and tried to pry it open.

She looked up, "Stop the-" the driver seat was empty. She looked towards the businessman, but to her dismay, was staring at her with glowing red eyes too.

"Come on, come on!" She pried at the door, it was useless, but she still tried until her fingertips bled from her struggle. "Admirable, and truly heartbreaking." Said a voice from behind her, she turned to see the businessman. "C-Can't you just let me go? I-I haven't even done anything! What gods are you even talking about!" The businessman gave her a sad look. "It's a pity, if we weren't forced to swear on the river Styx to kill you, we would have let you live, without question. You seem like such a nice girl, even now you aren't calling us monsters or trying to fight, but trying to save yourself. It's such a pity."

Lilith racked her brain, "Styx?.. Like from mythology?" The businessman waved her off, "What does it matter? The information won't matter much very soon." She glanced to the front of the bus and the concrete barrier was closing in. Despair filled her, as she thought, what can I do? Should I give up?

However, a burning rage filled her. No. She wasn't about to give up, all her life she suffered and suffered, and she was about to be killed by god-knows-what, for god-knows-why. She couldn't accept that, she would have an easy time accepting that if she was simply shot rather than this nonsense. A strange power began flooding her veins, "Release me!" She called out and immediately the windows shattered, the bus's tires began to screech, the lights flickered slightly, the businessman and old lady flew towards the front of the bus, Lilith slammed into the seat in front of her. Eventually, the bus slid to a stop, smoke rising from the burned out tires.

Lilith groaned and pried herself from the seat in front of her, something warm covered her left side, she looked down and a crimson liquid oozed from her shirt. "..damn it," She whispered and clamped a hand over the wound.

Lilith got to her feet the same time they did, however, they were still in the process of shedding their skin, a sight which Lilith would never be able to burn out of her head.

"We had preferred not to get your blood on our hands, especially now since we liked you… But it seems we haven't the choice." They were small lawnmower size black creatures with a bony exoskeleton and bat like wings. Their faces were also bat like, with red beady eyes and fangs, a strip of hair running down their spine. "Hold still and we'll make it painless." Said what was once the old woman. Lilith looked toward the door, she was pleasantly surprised to see that it was already open. She stumbled out of the bus, "Don't run deary!" Cried whatever creature they were, "It'll hurt a lot more in the end!" Lilith ran as fast as she could, her left side feeling slightly numb as she continued to lose blood.

What in the world is going on?! She cried to herself, a group of people had gathered to look at the bus, some ran forward when they saw her, but she dodged them and ran by; despite them calling after her.

She knows they mean well, she is bleeding after all, however Lilith doesn't think they'll be of much help due to whatever creatures were after her. Gods they had said? That had to be impossible, but then again, here she was, running from small disgusting black creatures, bleeding, and she was still trying to convince herself that it was false.

Lilith shook her head, but froze when she heard screaming, she flinched when she heard gunshots, but that shook her back into action. She hurried into a nearby alley, "P-Please!" She tried to say outloud. If the gods really existed, and it was they who brought this mess upon her, then it was they who could take it away. "W-Whatever I did, I'm sorry!"

She yelled out loud, "I-I don't want to die like this! A-At least, not without knowing why!" She heard a loud noise behind her, she glanced back to see one of the black creatures, they had barreled into the alley and slammed into a dumpster. "We can smell a demigod of your caliber from across the country. We'll never lose you, being this close." Tears streamed down her face as she turned to run, "W-Why?!" She cried out, "Leave me alone! I-I don't want to die! I didn't do anything to offend the gods, willingly!"

"For your sake and ours," Lilith heard the same raspy voice from above, "Hold still." She looked up to see the creature descending with it's claws extended. It's too fast, she doesn't have time to react.

"LILITH, DUCK!" A voice boomed, and Lilith regained her senses and ducked, as something exploded right above her.

Something heavy landed next to her. She glanced over to see a steaming… spear? Javelin? Lilith didn't have time to process what she was seeing as her vision began to dance, her head spun. Her blood loss had finally caught up with her. She collapsed, but someone caught her.

"Thank the gods I made it in time," said a familiar, but deeper voice. Whoever had caught her, his body was as hard as steel. She looked up, her vision darkening, "Hurry, eat this!" The voice said and tried to force something in her mouth. She couldn't resist as she was teetering on the brink of fainting due to blood loss.

A square? She thought, as she chewed the rich substance. It tastes… like the homemade italian pizza that her one Foster father used to make for her when she was little, around six. He made it for her whenever she wanted, and even let her help him make it. She heavily regretted the way things ended between the two, or at least, what she was told.

Immediately, she felt strength surging into her, her vision returned and the numbness was replaced by a tingling sensation. She blinked the blurriness out of her eyes, she beheld her rescuer.

Chris Chase.