Stuff
"...Really?"
Dr. Smiley shrugged at Lilith's deadpan, presenting an all too familiar metal table to her, "I don't see what you're so bothered by. I was told you'd need a place to rest, and in my opinion, having you down here would save you the trip."
"You can't be serious." Lilith grumbled, glaring at the table with as much distaste as she could muster, "I've seen you butcher shit on that table, hell, I'm pretty sure I was said 'shit' more than once."
"Well, if it bothers you so much, maybe you shouldn't throw Shad through a wall next time." The Doc's head pat helped to seal his condescending tone, like an owner scolding his puppy. The very thought made Lilith bristle. "Are there any other concerns you have? I may not be the best, but I will attempt to adjust to your needs and whatnot."
Lilith levelled her glare back with the table, hoping her glare would melt the thing and she could just be done with it, "Ignoring that I've had most near death experiences on that table? It's cold and uncomfortable."
"Oh, if that's the case," Dr. Smiley lunged over a box on the floor, nearly tripping over his own feet on his way over to the sink, "I'll have to introduce you to 'blankets' and 'pillows'. I'm told they're able to work wonders for problems such as those."
Before she could retort, the basement door was thrown open, a familiar hood popping into view, "Hey, Lilith, you done down here? Masky and them all left, so the backyard is all ours."
Lilith scowled, shifting the fire in her eyes from the table to the back of the Doctor's head. "This isn't over."
She left him with his noncommittal hum, choosing to take it as a sound of submission rather than the many alternatives. She accepted Shad's outstretched hand, letting him help to pull her out before pushing the door back down to the floor, tugging at her arms and stretching out her legs on their way to the door.
She needed this, she told herself, rolling her shoulders in an effort to rub out some tension. Just some time to throw shadows around and get a better handle of this otherworldly power. Surely it would help to take her mind off of stupid things, like sleeping on a metal table in the basement.
"Hey, Lilith?"
Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
"Give me a moment, I'm dying here."
Why did she ever think it would be that easy?
"I just realized something."
She couldn't move her neck no matter how hard she tried, stuck staring straight up at the cloudless sky.
"Oh? I don't suppose it has anything to do with my lungs compressing?"
"A name."
When he didn't explain, Lilith pushed herself up with a groan, "You know, at this point, you should just assume that I need more information."
"One of the most important factor's is the Shade's name." She reached out to grab Shad's outstretched hand when it was offered, letting him pull her up and out of the dirt, "Without it, well… Best case scenario, it doesn't work."
She did her best to pat her arms down, rubbing away the pins and needles in an attempt to restart her blood circulation, "And the worst?"
"If I had to guess?" Shad murmured, taking a moment to think it over, "It could rebound to another Shade if left unspecified."
"Of course, I know that we all refer to her as 'Lizzie', but you and I both know that isn't her real name." Shad went on when Lilith refused to fill in the silence, watching her stare down at the blue plastic of the mask, fingers dusting against the surface no matter how clean it remained, "So, do you have any ideas? I mean, you do have the most... First-hand experience with her, do you have any ideas?"
She could feel Shad's eyes boring into her head, as if attempting to drill right through her skull to see what exactly was going on up there. All the while, Lilith's head felt like a war-torn battlezone, each individual thought waging an uphill battle against all the others. Not that it mattered, no, not when there was really only one solution through this.
She straightened up a little too quickly, if Shad's sudden jump was anything to go off of, "I'm going to need a day." Her voice didn't sound as dead as she thought it would. Hollow yes, but there was still a bit of life in her tone, "If the boss or anyone else asks, could you make up some sort of cover story for me?"
"Yeah, well, I guess I could." Shad murmured, watching with enraptured confusion as Lilith readied herself for… something. "Where are you going?"
"Somewhere I've been avoiding for awhile," Lilith all but grumbled, reaching up to adjust the hold her mask had around her head, "Oh, do me favor, yeah?"
"Depends on what it is."
"Don't follow me." She fought to get the words out, despite how strongly she was opposed to it. She didn't want to go back there period, much less alone. Regardless, it would have been wrong to drag someone else along, someone who had no idea and no right to be there for what Lilith planned to do. "I'll be careful. I promise."
Shad had a second of hesitance, clenched fists finally falling open with a small huff, "I'm holding you to it."
Lilith couldn't help the small grin at his words and cheeky smile. "Or what? You'll tell another of your crappy puns?"
"Oh? Was it really that horrible?" She could see the build up, glaring over her shoulder in an attempt to stomp it out before it could leave his lips, "Oh? What's with the cold shoulder?"
The last thing she heard before dropping out was the wheezy inhale of Shad's pre-laughter breath.
At first she had thought the rumors to be exaggerated. She already didn't trust a single word Ben had on it, and the town's people either refused to speak of it or didn't know it existed, just on the outskirts of town. Not that it mattered much, it wasn't like she'd been planning to head down herself to see if it was true or not.
Regardless, the faded yellow ribbon-like plastic billowing about in the wind felt just a bit too ominous.
She forced herself past the tree, refusing to give it even a moment of her attention as she marched on, pushing her way through the police tape, eyes squinting as she really took it all-
"Hey!"
She hadn't noticed the elderly woman hobbling towards her, waving her cane about with as much hostility as an 80-year-old woman could have. Lilith's confusion only seemed to enrage her further.
"Hey, you! Yeah, you! Don't you know better than to trespass!?"
"...I'm sorry, but do you own this building?"
"Hell no, not on my life!" Lilith wasn't one for patience. She was here on a mission, and so far, this lady was being little more than a nuisance. But still, she didn't want to act on her irritation and strike her down immediately, not when she might know something. "It doesn't matter, though! Do you not see this police tape strewn all about!? Are you really too young to know what that means?"
"...No. I do not know what these yellow streamers are for. I am, in fact, too young to comprehend them as more than just something pretty that floats in the wind."
She nearly laughed at the woman's sneer, taking a step back when she attempted to get into her face. She wondered how odd she looked: a lanky figure wearing a hoodie surely didn't look the most conspicuous, especially considering she was trying to trespass.
"Don't get snappy with me, kid! I'm over here trying to warn ya 'bout a haunted murder site, and you're gonna get nasty with me!?"
"What do you mean?" She hated the cold chill that fought to take over her skin, shooting the decrepit building a look over her shoulder, "What happened here?"
Lilith nearly snapped then and there when the cane came down on her shoulder, like a queen attempting to kill the man she was trying to knight, "Who do you think you are, stomping into a sectioned off area, making a big scene, and now you have the audacity to… To…"
Okay, so maybe Lilith was more irritated with this woman than she wanted to admit to herself. Maybe her shadow had decided to take action when she herself wouldn't, writhing out from the dirt behind her before arching over her like a scorpion's tail ready to strike.
"I've done my best to keep control for you, you know." Lilith grumbled, twisting around to her shadow as if to scold it, almost oblivious to the cowering woman. Her face contorted into pure traumatic horror as if she'd been forced to relive her worst nightmare, dropping to her knees as her cane clattered to the ground next to her, forgotten.
"Now, since I've got the 'audacity', to do so, I'm going to repeat my question." Lilith crouched down on one knee, eyes boring into the other's shaking shoulders and quivering lips, "What happened here?"
"It-it-it was a m-murder! A massacre!" At least, that's what Lilith thought she was trying to say. Honestly, it was a bit hard to understand her when she tripped over her own tongue, but it wasn't like Lilith was making it any easier, "I don't k-know exactly what happened, r-really I don't! I just… Just… I remember screaming, and all t-the lights went o-out, and then it w-was just… Silence."
Not once did the old lady's face stray from the shadow looming over her, eyes darting about as it followed it's flicks and twists, "I remember that… Or no, something like that, shooting out from all the windows and the ceiling…"
Lilith watched as the lights in her eyes slowly dimmed, almost as if her shadow had lulled her into a trance, "Oh god, the laughter… I can still hear the laughter…"
That was all Lilith needed to hear.
She could almost hear it for herself, the echoing cackle bouncing around her skull, growing louder with each additional impact in her head.
"...Thank you."
The old lady's eyes finally snapped up to meet Lilith's face, widening as she removed the mask. Dark blue eyes bore down into the shriveled woman, a mix of pity and displeasure swarming about. The mark in her left eye made the woman feel sick, that much Lilith could practically feel radiating from her, "I thank you for your time, and I apologize for what you had to witness."
Lilith's dead tone poisoned what could have been well meant words, eyes narrowing ever so slightly when the old lady stiffened up. "W-what… Does that mean y-you'll let me go?"
"Yes, but not in the sense you're hoping for." She could just barely see her own reflection in the woman's fearful eyes, the corner of her mouth nearly reaching up for the base of her ear. "You've done wonderfully, make no mistake. And for that, I'll make this quick."
With the remains disposed of, Lilith finally made her move up the steps.
The wooden remains of the stairway creaked under her weight, the low platform threatening to give way with each second wasted in front of the door. She stared the old piece of rotting wood down, hand hovering over the rusted door knob for a second too long.
"This is ridiculous." Lilith finally huffed, grasping the red metal and twisting it as she shoved her shoulder into the door. She hadn't meant to throw the thing straight out of the doorframe and onto the molded carpet inside, but apparently, that was what fate had in mind.
She stepped over the fallen door, eyes slowly adjusting to the dim hallway. Only a few rays of sunlight made it in through the decaying roof, the floating dust particles and mossy overgrowth making the place look all the more abandoned.
"The hell is that smell?" Lilith grumbled, eyeing the stairway up before taking hold of the railing, only to jump back when something crawled over the back of her hand. She barely had time to really take in the sickeningly sweet, putrid smell before slapping away the spider that had dared to try and crawl up her arm, one hand moving to pull her collar up and over her nose as the other pulled her up through the stairway, "I remember this arch being bigger."
She took the turn down into the all too familiar hallway, time having long since taken its toll if the moldy wallpaper and missing patches of carpet were anything to go off of. She stopped in front of the door, eyes staring holes through the broken wood as her hand ran down the familiar grain pattern.
She had no reason to go in. There would be no reason for what she was looking for to be in there, hell, the documents probably weren't even on the second floor. It would be the best option to just walk past and continue the search, and she knew it.
And yet, she still grasped the door knob she knew wouldn't work, taking her hand from her collar in order to gently push against the wood. She could just barely feel the splinters digging into her hand as the door creaked open, a broken smile slowly spreading over her face, like cracks in a mirror.
Of everything she'd seen, it was almost poetic that her room had been left the most unchanged. Maybe it was because her room had already been a dirty mess when she'd first arrived, or maybe the rose tinted glasses were a tad stronger than she'd last remembered them to be; either way, she couldn't help the comfort and warmth that exuded from the dank, dark room. Hell, even the grody floor looked inviting, the same floor that had been covered by the paper-thin blanket that did little to nothing to hold her miniscule body heat way back when.
She couldn't help the light chuckle at the vivid image, bending down to run her hands across the floorboards, "Still better than a metal table, in my book."
She knew that she was only wasting time here. She knew that, deep down, this would only serve to pull her down deeper, leaving her sinking in this bittersweet coating of nostalgia. She knew it would do more harm than good, and yet, it took a lot of willpower to rise up off of her knees, fingers finally pulled away before the cold rush of reality raced past like a sharp gust of wind.
It was only then she noticed the window left ajar, all but staggering over to the sill before breathing the lightly chilled air in. It was like she needed a break from her break, knowing that had she decided to stick around longer, it would have been harder to let go and come back.
"...Well that was a miraculous waste of time."
With that, she tore herself from the room, arms crossing over her chest to grip her sleeves to keep her fingers from latching onto anything else.
Complete control of herself only returned when she pulled the door shut behind her, not realizing until then that her breathing had been reduced to harsh wheezes, only made worse by the dust and dirt in the air.
Each step down the stairs made her regret the ones she'd taken up them moments prior, looking over what had once served as a cafeteria. Honestly, the overgrowth gave a splash of color to what was once the dullest room in Lilith's life. "Honestly, this is an upgrade."
She couldn't help but look down at the decaying tables and benches she'd once sat on and had lunch on, almost feeling awkward as she tried to imagine herself sitting there with two other equally tiny friends. She could vividly see the gross bowl of cold sludge they called "lunch", could feel the ache of her ass from the poorly made bench she had to sit on.
And yet, at the same time, it all also felt so… surreal. Like a fever dream she just barely remembered, and even then she wasn't sure if it all added up. Was there really a time she'd been that small? Had there really been a time that she'd taken shit from kids that, at this point, would barely be tall enough to reach her hip? Hell, if she remembered correctly, Froggie would have been able to reach her mid arm, maybe.
And, while it did feel honestly childish, it gave her just a little too much closure to know that she could body that stupid mess of a child if she wanted to.
With that uplifting thought, she made her way to the kitchen's door, wincing at the sharp odor as she pulled it open. She gagged, pulling the front of her hoodie back up over her nose as it grew stronger, looking for what poor creature had died attempting to escape this mess.
She half expected to find it lying in the stove, a fitting place if she did say so herself.
Lilith couldn't have closed the opposing door behind her quicker, more than happy to trade the smell of dead rats for that earthly musk that seemed to invade with the greenery. Thankfully, the hallway ahead hadn't changed all that much. It was so obviously the same hallway she'd been sent to wait in more times than she'd like to admit, all you had to do was pull away the ivy on the walls and brush away some of the dust.
She came to a stop outside of the office door, staring down at the handle before gripping it. She ignored the slight shake of her hand, instead gripping it harder and twisting before pushing it open.
The second the door popped open, her nose ready to turn around and jump ship at the sudden rush of invasive stench. It was a mix of old lady and rotten-sweet decay, like the ghost of Ms. Chrow rising from her decomposing grave to haunt her office once more.
She half expected to hear the old woman's whisper join the choir in her head.
Shaking her head, she made her way over to the table, eyeing the remains of the old hag's desk. The rust of the filing cabinet built into the legs threatened to overtake the rotting wood of the table's top, red threatening to overtake the rest of what was left. The desk was the only thing that had held itself together, the ancient bookshelves and pictures having long since fallen from their spots, if the glass, splinters and paper remains scattered about were anything to go off of. Walking around it, she eyed the four rusted cabinets, two built into each leg. She took a deep breath in, doing her best to dust off what she could before pulling her sleeve up and over her hand. She had a quick prayer to ward off any chances of tetanus before pulling it open…
"NOTHING!"
This was pointless. Deep down she knew it, that throwing a tantrum would get her nowhere. That she should have known better than to find an intact paper in that decaying mess, much less a whole file on someone from years ago. That it would be a lost cause the moment she'd finally looked the two pieces in the eye and connected them, snapping them into place so that the ugly picture could rear its ugly, grinning face.
"Damn, did she know I'd come looking for it!?"
Her voice didn't sound like it belonged to her. It was higher, shrill; like a sound one would squeeze out of a child in distress. Not that she was really thinking about it, much too busy flicking her wrist, watching as her shadow pulled yet another tree from the ground.
"Or no, that's impossible, where she is right now I doubt she's capable of coherent thought!"
She reeled her arm back, wrist curled as if to hold a cylinder along her arm and over her shoulder, letting out a strangled roar before sending the tree packing. She didn't bother to watch where it landed, hell, it could have gone into orbit for all she cared. She was already reaching for another one, hands shaking from anything but physical strain.
"Fuck, I can't I just… Close, we were so fucking close god damnit!"
She wasn't sure what was louder, the sound of trees being ripped from the ground only to be thrown back into the dirt or her own profanity, but at this point who was she going to ask?
She reached for the next tree, fingers crunching inward as if to dig her nails into the air. She was seconds away from pulling back, eyes locked onto the horizon. Maybe this one would go into space-
She was cut off by someone behind her, clearing their throat.
"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't."
The voice cut right through her anger, irritation giving way to confusion and disbelief as she turned around slowly. She hadn't realized what tree she'd grabbed, but now that she was looking…
"...Mary?"
The ghost of her childhood friend grinned at her, mischief crackling in her eyes like a storm clouds. She grinned, the image so familiar it was almost painful.
"In the flesh!"
Lilith was pretty sure she'd had a heart attack.
"Er, in the spirit?"
She wasn't like Ben and Sally, specters that still looked normal enough to blend in.
"...In the ground?"
It was probably the blue light and the levitation, but honestly, that was the least of Lilith's worries right now.
"Eh, you know what I mean."
When Lilith didn't respond, Mary shook her head, her smile so full of life and familiar Lilith nearly fell to her knees, "So, after all of these years, the one time you visit, you try and throw my tree? That's a bit harsh, don't you think."
"...Mary…"
Mary lifted her hand, phasing through Lilith's head in the spirit's attempt to pat it, "It's been a long time since we've last talked. I see you've grown up a lot, Alois."
Her hand retracted to bump herself on the head, "Oh wait, my bad. You don't go by that name anymore, do you? What is it now, Lilith, right? Hah, that's pretty fitting now, isn't it-?"
"STOP!" She hadn't meant to yell, and after everything that had happened recently, the last thing she wanted to do was yell at the ghost of her childhood friend. But at the same time, her brain really needed a quick timeout to take in… Everything. "It's… It's so good to see you, after so long… But I can't… Not right now, I can't, I just…"
The entire time Mary just stood there, seemingly patient to Lilith's mental reboot. Her head swayed from left to right, bobbing about to some silent song as Lilith attempted to take it all in.
She felt that she was fighting to keep her throat open, mind going both too fast and way too slow. Thinking about it just made it worse, so… Maybe just… One step at a time.
Too busy trying to keep her breathing in check, she failed to notice as Mary skipped over, hand phasing through her back as she attempted to pat it, "Oh, there there, I guess this is a bit weird for ya, isn't it? I get it, I really do- Wait, these back pats aren't doing much good now, are they?"
When her head was finally clear of the access fog, Lilith shot straight up, hoping that a higher elevation would help get some air into her-
"Hey, umm, I don't mean to be rude, but…"
Words could not have described how fast and high Lilith jumped upon seeing Mary's head staring up at her from inside her chest.
Mary's laughter was less than white noise as Lilith came back down to her body, partially sure that she'd left a piece of herself up in the sky. "Holy hell, Mary, that's actually you. It's you, you're right here."
"Oh? Is that right?" Mary wondered, looking down at her hands as if they'd lied to her, "I had no clue."
"Mary!" The name had come out as more of a bubbly laugh than a shout of anger, cheeks damp with the thin trails of tears as Lilith finally let herself take it in. She moved to hug her, only to stop at the last second, "What am I doing? That's not gonna work here."
Mary laughed along with her, only to shake her head and hold her hands out in front of her, "Sure, maybe ya can't hug me, but I'm sure you can feel it, right?"
She couldn't at first, but through Mary's instruction, she could just barely feel it: a tingly warmth, almost like a pleasant shock trailing up from where Mary rested her hands on Lilith's palm, fingers floating right above as if she were really able to place them there, "Woah."
"Woah?" Mary snickered, reaching up to try and flick Lilith's forehead, a mock scowl taking over when she couldn't get any higher than her shoulder, "That's really the word you're gonna go with? Not any of the numerous swear words of surprise I taught you? I'm hurting here, kiddo."
"I don't have to swear every other word, thank you very much." Lilith couldn't help the stupid childish grin spreading across her face, nearly getting down on one knee so she could be shorter than Mary once more, just for old time's sake, "And before you say anything, yes, I'm aware of the vast collection of profanities I can choose from."
"There's the lil' Ali I know and love!" Mary's grin only grew wider, popping her nonexistent collar in a show of pride, "Believe it or not, but I've caught bits and pieces of you and, lemme tell you, some of the word play and dead sarcasm of yours? Absolutely brilliant! It's enough to bring ghost tears to my face, I'll tell you that much!"
She wanted to stay forever. To let the world pass her by in order to chat with a long lost friend. It felt so nice, so natural; she just wanted to stay, for old times sake. It would have been so much easier, too. To just let everything fall from her shoulders and onto someone else who, honestly, would probably handle it all in a much better manner. She wanted to just give it all up to lie there and stay.
But she knew she couldn't.
No matter how badly she didn't want to think about it, she had come for a reason, and Mary had known her longer…
"I… Look, I need to ask a favor-"
"I know."
Before Lilith could press, Mary raised her hand, "Okay, so, I may have lied about the 'bits and pieces' part." Her expression suddenly dropped from blissfully playful to dead serious, "I will tell you her name, but you need to understand something first."
"We both left her, Alois. She was alone and scared for a very long time. You understand, right?"
"...Yes, I do."
Despite being the ghost, it was Mary who looked like she could see right through Lilith, eyes narrowing ever so slightly, before shrugging, "I take it you're going to continue on with your plan?"
"Mary, at this point, I have to." It felt so odd, talking to Mary's ghost like this. She could remember a time the roles were changed, when she'd have to look up to Mary for some form of approval or acceptance. It almost felt… Wrong to tower over her, ghost or not. "Have you seen what she's done? What she's doing?"
Mary's silence was answer enough, eyes averted to stare at the ground under her feet. She looked like she was fighting herself, a feeling Lilith knew all too well. Finally, she sighed, voice coming out as a soft whisper, "...I'd rather it be you than someone else."
Despite having won, Lilith couldn't help but feel as if someone had ripped her heart out. She felt how Mary looked: empty.
"You need her birth name, her true name, right?"
"Yes."
"I remember it well, believe it or not. She told me never to tell anyone, heh, shame I'll have to break that promise, too. Alright, okay, you can stop with that pout. Yes, don't shake your head, you're definitely pouting right now. Yes, okay, I'll stop beating around the bush. Her real name was-"
Even more stufffffffff