Skeletons in the Closet

Lilith inhaled deeply as she lay on her stomach. Her spine protested slightly as she slowly lifted her legs above her head. She breathed deeply and held the position for nearly an hour. The doorbell caused her eyes to snap open. She fell over before standing.

The door opened before she made it to the hallway. She stopped to stare at the person who walked in, then flashed him her middle finger and turned back to the living room to start tai chi.

"Lilith!" Jeremy called. He followed her to the living room. "Will you talk to me?"

"No."

Jeremy dared to grab her arm and turn her around. "Listen to me!"

Lilith pulled her arm free. She waved her finger menacingly. "Don't you ever put your hands on me again."

"Lilith!" Dante called from upstairs. "What are you doing!"

"Why!" Lilith called back.

"You're agitated!"

"Says who!"

"My father!"

Lilith rolled her eyes. "Oh, crap."

"What does that mean?" Jeremy asked.

"None of your business." Lilith stormed into the kitchen and returned with a handfull of paper towels. He watched her race upstairs. When he heard the door close, he crept upstairs and listened for voices. He heard Lilith's voice from her father's room. He slid closer to the door to hear what they were saying.

"Be careful," he heard Lilith say. "You'll get it all over the carpet."

"Worse yet, it's not even mine."

"Sure it is." There was some rustling. "What's up?"

"Something pissed you off. What happened?"

There was silence. "Jeremy's here."

"Talk to him."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"It might not be what you think."

Jeremy took that as his cue. He pushed the door open. "He's right."

Lilith and Dante glared at him slowly. Deanna was napping on the bed. Dante lowered the bloody paper towels from his face. "What are you doing up here?"

Jeremy stared in a daze at the bloody smears on Dante's face. "Go downstairs," Dante demanded. "Lilith, you too."

"Right." Lilith pinched Jeremy to get his attention. He followed her back to the living room downstairs. Lilith sat on the nearest couch. In a moment of foresight, Jeremy sat on the one opposite her. "What do you want?" Lilith began.

"I came to apologize."

"Well, you've apologized. Now get out."

"No. You don't understand. Let me explain."

Lilith shrugged. "Go ahead."

"The night you saw me at the club, it was nothing. I swear."

"What were you doing there with another woman?"

"We're just friends. We were hanging out. I promise, that's all that happened."

"You never did anything like that with me. You never took me out anywhere."

"I couldn't. You were always out somewhere with your dad. Half the time you weren't even in the country."

"Then why are you still here?"

"I want to change things between us."

"Starting with you not taking other women out."

"Something like that." Jeremy dared to slide across the floor and kneeled beside her. "Marry me."

Lilith immediately sat up and backed to the other side of the couch. "No." Before Jeremy could respond, she added, "there are more things about me you don't know than things you do. Things you don't want to know. We shouldn't even be together."

Jeremy's brow wrinkled. "I don't understand."

"If you did, you'll wish you didn't."

"Why? Just answer me that. I deserve to know."
Lilith curled on the couch. "Just knowing my family history would be enough to send you running. I can't even tell you that."

"What?" Jeremy asked sarcastically. "Is your father a criminal?"

"I already told you, no." When Jeremy didn't say anything, she finally said, "He's a demon." The sarcasm instantly died. Jeremy looked at her as if he thought she were insane. "Actually," she continued, "he's a half-demon. His father is the demon."

Jeremy inched closer to Lilith and placed the back of his hand against Lilith's forehead. "Are you all right?"

Lilith slapped his hand away. "I'm not sick."

"How do you expect me to believe a story as bogus as that?"

"I don't, which is why I told it to you."

"Why don't you just tell me the truth?"

"I did. All those times I disappeared with my father, we were chasing after some demon. He's been doing it since before I was born. I've been in training since I was six."

"Why six?"

"That's when I sprouted my first pair of wings."

Jeremy continued staring at her. Then he pat her head, stood, and left. When she heard the front door close, Lilith let loose a high pitched cackle. As if he were expecting this, Dante slowly descended the stairs and entered the living room.

"What happened?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Lilith, please don't play with me. I am not in the mood."

"I told him the truth. About us. He didn't believe me, so he just walked out."

"Why did you tell him about us?"

"Because I knew he wouldn't believe it."

"Knowing that, why did you tell him anyway? Were you trying to get rid of him?"

"I caught him with another woman. What do you expect?"

Dante dropped himself onto the couch Jeremy had sat in moments before. "What happened down here?"

Lilith ran her tongue over her teeth. "When your mother gave birth to you and your brother, did she know your father's true nature?"

"She knew at some point."

"But did she know then?"

"I don't know. Why?"

Lilith inhaled deeply. "Jeremy asked me to marry him."

Dante slouched into the couch. "I see. That's why you told him."

"I don't think he'll be back."

"Do you want him back?"

"That's irrelevant. I don't think he'll want this kind of life."

"He doesn't know what he's missing."

(X)

Vergil held the sword Sparda under the light of the torches. The sword felt cold in his hands, as if it were dead. In truth, he knew there was life in it, but it refused to answer to him. "I will bend you to my will. I swear it."

"No," the demon in front of him said. "The sword is not yours. It doesn't belong to you. It will never answer you."

"I am the grandson of Sparda. I have a right to it."

"No, you don't. You were not properly cultivated of Sparda's blood."

"I'm his grandson!"

"So? What do I care?" The demon glanced at the sword, then sat on a large chair. The chair was constructed from several large bones, none of which were human. The skull of a great draconic beast rested over the back of the chair. "Come here."

Vergil kneeled at the demon's feet. The demon touched Vergil's head. "I knew you would want something like this. I knew the moment I pulled you from between your mother's legs. You'll never be happy."

"Yes, I will." Vergil placed his head on the demon's legs. "I will always be happy with you."

"Of course. What shall we do?"

"Whatever you wish."

"You know what I want. Bring it to me. My patience is short lived."

"I shall go back then, and I will return with him."

The demon pushed Vergil's head away. "How stupid do you think he is? He will never follow you here."

"No, but he will follow another. One he loves."

The demon snorted. "Your mother would not have the nerve to come here."

Vergil smirked. "It's not her I'm speaking of."

(X)

"What are we going to do?"

Dante didn't look up from the television. "What do you mean?"

"Mom's hiding something from us. About Vergil. Something must have happened while he was being born."

"Why do you say that?"

"Don't you remember the dream I kept having? The one where I was giving birth, and a demon was midwifing me? What if I was dreaming about Mom and Vergil?"

"Well, keeping secrets is something your mother does best."

Lilith snatched a magazine from the table and slung it at him. "Can't you be serious about anything?"

"I am serious. Your mother does keep secrets. I know something is wrong, but I can't fix it if I don't know what it is."

"Maybe you can't fix it anyway."

"That's for me to decide. Not you. Not your mother."

(X)

Jeremy slammed the apartment door. He threw his car keys onto the table. He was still cursing since his talk with Lilith. After what she told him, he didn't know whether to laugh at her or have her committed.

"I don't know what I ever saw in her. I guess I should have told her the truth about that girl at the club."

His stopped long enough to glance at the telephone. If he picked it up, should he call Lilith or the other girl? He picked up the receiver, held it in midair for several seconds, then put it back on the hook. He picked it up again, then put down again. His heart felt as if it would explode if he didn't do something.

"I need a sandwich." His trek to the refridgerator was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Now what!" He threw his coat aside before opening the door. He glanced at the person for only a second before he felt something sharp pierce his chest.

(X)

Deanna rolled over and stared at the moon through the window. A cold breeze blew snow across the view. Dante sighed behind her. She didn't know whether to wake him or leave him alone. She slowly began to rock back and forth on the bed. He didn't wake up. In an effort to make it seem unintentional, she swung her arm around and smacked him across the face. She recoiled just as he sat up. When he realized what happened, he simply lay down and closed his eyes again.

Frustrated, Deanna poked his shoulder. He moaned in response. She poked him harder. He finally opened his eyes, but looked at the ceiling. "What?"

"How can you sleep at a time like this?"

"How can I not? If I don't get enough sleep, I get incredibly unmanageable. You know that."

"Aren't you worried?"

"About what?"

"About Vergil?"

Dante opened his eyes. "It's not easy to be worried about something when I don't even know what it is."

"So, you're just going to ignore it and hope it goes away? That's not like you."

"No, but there is nothing else I can do. I have no information, and the one person who does won't give it to me."

Deanna knew the accusation was aimed at her. "What can I tell you?"

Dante gazed at her. "Maybe you can tell me how a newborn baby became a full grown man in only a few hours."

"I wish I could, but I can't."

"Has Lilith talked to you about her dream?"

"No. What about it?"

"Before you came back, she dreamed about giving birth. A demon was attending her. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Deanna tried her best to shrug while lying down. "Not a clue." She knew he didn't believe her.

He sat up to leave, but Deanna grabbed his wrist. "I know what you're thinking."

"Does anyone have a hold on you this time?"

"No, but they have a hold on our son."

Dante snatched his arm away. "I am tired of playing games with you."

"It was never a game. I can't control what comes my way."
The silence frightened her. She turned back towards the window and curled into a fetal position.

"First Lineia," Dante said, "then Raynok and Kerlak. Who is it this time?"

"I don't know."

She felt Dante staring at her in disbelief. "What?"

"I don't know whom it was. He wouldn't give me his name, but he came to me just as I went into labor. I was alone, confused, and scared. He said he knew you."

"He knew me? Did he say how?"

"Not really. He said that he knew your parents and your brother. Naming the baby Vergil was his idea."

"He knew my parents and brother? Was he a demon?"

"Yes. After Vergil was born, he did something to the baby. I don't know what, but it looked like he was pouring something over him."

"I would expect a demon to know my father, but how would he know my mother and brother unless it was after their fall?"

Deanna rolled over to looked at him. "He said he was there when it happened."