Tainted Love

The woman cradled the baby close to her chest. She covered the best she could at the expense of her own comfort. The freezing rain pelted her face. She shivered and wiped her nose with the back of her free hand. "Don't worry," she said to her son in her arms. "We're almost there. He'll save you. He always succeeds." The woman shivered again, but this time from uncertainty. What if the man she sought could not help her as she hoped? Shoving aside her own pessimism, she continued her trek through the freezing rain.

The baby squirmed and cried out. "Don't worry," the woman repeated. She lightly bounced the baby in her arms. Her fingers were almost numb. "How long have we been out here?" The baby's only response was another cry. "I know. I know. Just hold on." She continued down the road until she saw several lights down the street. They were lights in windows she recognized. "There it is," she assured the baby. "We made it."

(X)

Lilith placed the CD into the CD player and skipped it to the third song. Dante kneeled at the coffee table and opened a chessboard. "I call white."

Lilith turned on her heel. "Why? You said we'd choose by a coin toss."

"I lied."

Lilith kneeled on the other side of the table. "I'm starting to lose faith in you."

"I'm sad to hear you say that," he responded with a smile. As he reached for the first pawn, the doorbell rang.

"I don't believe this!" Lilith raised her hands in irritation. "Who in hell would come by? It's almost 3:00 in the morning."

"It doesn't matter. At a time like this it could be important."

"Like 'have you found Jesus' important?"

"Leave it to them to lose their deity." Dante slapped the table as he stood to answer the door. Lilith stared at the chess set for a moment before sliding a pawn. "Put it back!" Dante called into the room. Lilith sighed and knocked the pawn over.

"Hurry up," the woman muttered through chattering teeth. She raised her hand to push the bell again. At the same time, the door opened.

"Can I help you?" Dante asked sarcastically.

The woman raised her face to stare him in the eye. "Yes, you can. The real question is whether or not you will." Dante opened his mouth to be sarcastic again until he recognized the woman.

"Will you ask me in," she said, "or let me freeze to death out here?"

Dante just stared for a moment. "I'm not quite sure what to say to you."

"Try this on for size." The woman placed the bundled baby against him as she shoved her way past him. "Say hello to your son."

"What!" The woman walked past him as he took the baby from her arms. "What the hell do you mean?"

The woman didn't look at him. "You know damn well what I mean. You were there."

"Will you hurry up!" Lilith called from the living room. "My chess pieces are getting cold!"

"Not now, Lilith!" Dante called back. "We have a problem!"

"Oh," the woman said. "Is that what I am now?"

"What the hell . . ." was all Lilith managed to say as she walked out of the living room. When her eyes met the woman's, she covered her mouth and muttered an oath.

The woman nodded at her. "It's nice to see you, too, my daughter."

Lilith and Deanna stared at each other for a few seconds. Lilith lowered her hand. "I never thought you'd come back."

"I almost didn't." Deanna opened her arms to invite an embrace. Lilith fell into them and nearly shivered from her cold skin. "Maybe we can get it right this time," Deanna said into her ear.

"Third time's the charm."

"Ahem!" Dante cleared his throat. "By all means, do not forget me over here."

Deanna and Lilith released each other. Deanna took the bundle from him and took it into the living room. She carefully set it onto the couch and unwrapped the top half. A baby boy with blue eyes and tufts of white hair stared back at her.

Dante leaned over her shoulder. "What are you doing with one of those?"

"Don't talk about him like he's just an object. This is your son. You can look at him and tell."

"Right."

"His name is Vergil."

She heard Dante suck in air. "Of all names in the world, why did you name him Vergil?"

"Why not? Your brother didn't have any copyright on his name, did he?"

"That's not the point!" He glanced down at the baby. For a moment he felt as if he would panic.

"I'm too old to have any more children."

Deanna straightened and tilted her head. "How old was Sparda when he had you and your brother? A few thousand?"

"That's not the point either! What is the point is that you suddenly disappeared and then some months later . . ."

"Nine months, to be exact . . ."

". . . you show up and expect me to just let you in."

"You didn't let me in. I walked past you."

"That's not the point!"

Dante's voice startled the baby into crying again. "Look what you've done," Deanna lightly scolded as she lifted the baby. "You scared little Vergil. Shame on you!"

"Shame on me?" Dante scratched his head as he watched Deanna take Vergil upstairs. "Where are you going?"

"If you don't mind," Deanna answered, "I would like to take a bath. Unless, of course, you object."

Dante waved his hand. "Go on, but you owe me one hell of an explanation later."

"Consider it done." Deanna practically skipped up the stairs.

When she was gone, Dante turned to his daughter. "What the hell just happened?"

Lilith shrugged. "Your idea is as good as mine."

Deanna lifted Vergil from the bathtub and carried him into Dante's room. Vergil was already asleep when she placed him onto the bed. She dried him off and slipped a dry towel around him.

"This is an ugly situation," she whispered to him.

"Why is that?" Dante said behind her.

She didn't turn around. A bag of pampers flew past her head and landed on the other side of the bed. She struggled to find words that would make sense without sounding suspicious. "I know I should have come back sooner."

"No, you shouldn't have left at all."

"You're right, but you don't understand how I was feeling at the time. You were in Hell, and Lilith had run off to rescue you, though the only reason she went was because I convinced her."

Dante stood beside her. "You convinced her?"

"She would have given you up for dead. I don't know what she did in her room after we talked."

"Lilith is strange like that. Every day she seems to become stranger."

"It's Sparda, isn't it?"

Dante shrugged. "Stranger things have happened?"

"True." Deanna reached for the bag of pampers and pulled one out. She opened it up and slipped it under Vergil. "I don't suppose there is someone who can baby-sit Vergil for a while."

"Why?"

"I want to go out. Just you and me."

"Hell no."

Deanna closed the pamper tabs and stood straight. "Why not? Aren't you glad to see me?"

"Actually, I don't know."

"At least you're honest. At least, I hope you're honest." Deanna picked up Vergil. "I'll sleep downstairs with the baby tonight. Later we can discuss different arrangements, if you don't mind." She didn't give Dante a chance to respond. He merely watched her leave and wondered what she was up to.

(X)

"I can't believe you talked me into this." Lilith sipped her drink and slid it to the other side of the bar. "There is no way we'll find him in here."

"You're not looking hard enough." Sharon took her own drink and finished it in one gulp.

"How would you know? I've been going here since I was too young to drink here. I know what I'm doing."

"So you say. I know your home life has recently gone topsy turvy again."

"That's not funny, Sharon. This is serious, and you don't know what's going on."

"I'm not implying you're a problem child, if that's what you mean."

"I'm not a child."

"Tell that to your father."

"He knows. He just doesn't want to admit it." Lilith reached for her second drink and lifted it halfway to her mouth before dropping it. It shattered as it fell against the bar. Half of the pieces fell to the floor. "I found him," she muttered through clenched teeth, "and I'm going to kill him." She slapped her hand against the bar and marched towards the entrance.

Sharon rubbed her hands together. "This is gonna be good!" She ran after Lilith and grabbed Lilith's arm. "What's wrong? See something you don't like?"

"Let me go." Lilith jerked her arm free, but Sharon grabbed it again.

"What is the matter with you? Who are you preparing to kill?" Lilith merely tilted her head towards one of the couples that entered the club. When Sharon saw who they were, she instantly released Lilith. "He's gonna die."

She followed a few feet behind Lilith as Lilith continued her march towards the couple. Lilith tapped the man on his shoulder to get his attention. When he turned to face her, she punched him in the face. The blow knocked him to the floor.

"What the fuck!" the man yelled as he sat up. When he saw who hit him, he suddenly became friendlier. "Lilith? What the hell are you doing here?"

Lilith folded her arms. "I could ask you the same thing, Jeremy."

Jeremy held his arm out as he picked himself up. "It's not what you think. Honestly. I swear."

Lilith turned to the woman Jeremy brought with him. "Is that true?" Lilith asked.

The woman watched Lilith punch her right fist into her left palm. After a few seconds, she waved to Jeremy. "I don't know him," she said weakly while backing away. "I just followed him so I could get in for free." She turned and ran in the opposite direction as fast as her pumps would allow.

Lilith turned back to Jeremy. She was still punching her left hand. "Is that true?"

"Sure." Lilith punched him in the gut. He fell to one knee. "Okay. Maybe I need to explain a few things to you."

"If I ever see you again," Lilith shouted, "I will kill you." Lilith shoved past Sharon and headed back towards the bar. She stopped again as another shocking image caught her eye. This time, she cringed and tried to gasp, but the air got caught in her throat. "I'm not seeing this."

"What's wrong with you now?" Sharon asked with poorly hidden sarcasm. This time, Lilith gave no indication of what she was looking at. Lilith walked towards the dance floor to get a closer look. As always, Sharon was right behind her. This time, she was concerned. "Lilith, you are truly freaking me out? What's wrong?"

Lilith only looked straight ahead. Sharon followed her line of vision until she saw what shocked Lilith into silence. Lilith's father was out there, but this time, he hadn't come to punish her for underage drinking.

"Hey," Sharon asked, "isn't that your dad out there?"

"Yep," Lilith responded.

"With a woman?"

"Yep."

"Dancing?"

"Uh- huh."

"Who is she?"

Lilith leaned towards Sharon. "My mom."

"Aw, I think that's so cute."

Lilith lifted a finger for emphasis. "That is not cute. It's disturbing. They were a little less than friendly just a few hours ago."

"And this is their way of apologizing. I think it's romantic."

"Maybe, but who has the baby?"

(X)

Vergil cried as the red headed woman placed him carefully against her shoulder. She patted him on the back to induce a burp. Vergil complied, but the woman didn't realize it didn't go as expected until she felt the warm milk drip down her back. Maintaining a stoic mien, she placed Vergil on the couch and wiped his mouth.

"Your father owes me big time," she said to Vergil. He gave no indication of hearing her. "Why are you so quiet?" She prepared herself for a nightmare of dirty diapers, but it was in vain. She gasped and took one step back as Vergil leaned forward and seized her arm.