Chapter Two
The Encyclopedia
Picture an empty black space devoid of life whatsoever. Picture floating astral rocks wandering on their coarse through space. Picture no wind or interesting surroundings save the clumps of small rocks and then picture several empty yet somehow floating upright grey figures. They somehow communicate with one another but if they had a voice it would sound like an empty dusty museum or an old abandoned Headteachers office.
They have not reached a decision yet, Hissed one.
No, while They continue to dither, they grow and mature, Stated another firmly. The others seemed to agree this this statement but if it was possible they seemed wary and almost fearful of what this meant they would have to do.
If we do anything then we are breaking The Rules, Pointed out an Auditor cautiously.
Not if we make sure somebody else does it for us...Suggested another which was a bold move. It almost suggested creativity and that could not be tolerated. Creativity suggested independent thinking. An Auditor was one of many. To be alone was dangerous and to think suggested life and life ultimately lead to death.
Human envolvement has failed in the past. We should learn by our previous mistakes and of course we should take into consideration that He would likely get involve if He suspected anything, Another Auditor said. This was why they always had more then two at any meeting. Three was a good number. One to agree, one to disagree and one to mediate.
He may not be able to do anything. If He neglects His Duty then He will be retired. If our plan suceeds this will be the outcome and of course the erased existence of those mortals who should not have been born Said another. It's plan was met with undertones of agreement and of course of doubt.
If not a human then what? And we must take into consideration that they will not be so easy to eliminate. They take after Him and the Anthropomorphic Personification of Time. We cannot remove Time and they will have a share in that proportion of their abilities Noted another.
They we shall involve someone who will not be as easy to erase and more sufficient at his job then the last one. Time must also obey The Rules or else he could be retired too, although this will not be the case as everybody needs Time. Said one.
Agreed, They all hissed.
Now picture a classroom. A classroom full of young teenagers in ridiculous costumes. Picture chaos as they chase each other with their plastic swords acting like demented five year olds again. Picture brightly coloured paper all over the floor and an exasperated teacher in his mid fifty's trying to control them. Now Picture a mirror and a girl in front of it. The girls costume resembles a gender confused Jester only with more shiny bits. Her dark copper coloured hair has been scraped into two painfully tight plaits and her pale cheeks have had round circles of rouge rubbed on to give the impression of rosy cheeks. Her facial expression looks like a victim about to be murdered by savage wolves but her icy blue eyes are narrowed angrily.
Now you have a clear picture of Lillith Sto Helit Ludd.
Lillith stared at her reflection and was quite willing to jump off a cliff then to be seen on stage in it. She looked ridiculous and she was inwardly cursing every God she could think of for making her look like such an idiot and of course her Form Mistress for even suggesting that she looked the part of Head Elf.
It had all started the previous day when Miss Hunter had called Lillith to her office. The Headmistress had, had a bright idea of throwing a special Hogswatch play to celebrate the end of term and to avert parents from their children's Report Cards. Unfortunately there had been an outbreak of flu causing many students to be sent home ill. One of them had been Samuel Edwards the Head Elf...so it had been with a very sugary sickly sweet voice that Miss Hunter had informed Lillith that she had the exact same size of feet as Samuel Edwards. Lillith had gulped knowing her fate the moment she had been addressed as, "Lilly Dear," in the voice that suggested Death by Syrup.
That day Lillith had left her Teachers office with two red and green pointy shoes.
'You could avoid this obvious humiliation,' Added a voice in her head, "You could go back...changer her mind. Vanish and dissappear...'Lillith sighed...it was so tempting. Just to fade away and be overlooked as usual but she couldn't...the teachers had already noticed Lillith had a habit of doing it in Mathematics and had already talked to her about it. Besides going back in time would only give her Father a further workload.
"You, know you don't look that bad," Said Lucy Evans. Lillith rolled her eyes at her friend fighting an extreme desire to hit her around the face with her pointy shoes - which she discovered contary to Miss Hunters belief they were two sizes too small - Lucy was the type of person that was eternally optimistic which Lillith usually liked but in such a situation stupid optimism conbined with Lilliths stomach making her want to vomit made Lucy seem ignorant and annoying.
"Don't lie. I look like the Nightmare before Hogswatch" Stated Lillith sitting down on a school desk trying to ignore the thumping pain in her head that was there because of how tight her plaits were. Lucy looked mildly sympathetic as she sat down dumping a worn out dolly onto the table.
"It could be worse...my brother Liam tells me they chuck axes and stuff in the Mended Drum," Informed Lucy. Lillith smiled grimly.
"Still at least it would be over quickly," Said Lillith.
"Well not because it would depend entirely on...anyway it won't be that bad. Just say the lines quickly and be thankful you don't have your little brother in the audience...unlike me who has her entire brood," Complained Lucy. Lillith nodded...it was something to be thankful for. William would have a field day if he saw Lillith dressed up like she was which was one of the reasons why she hadn't told her family that the Play was even taking place.
"Yeah...I guess...anyway what have you got me?" Asked Lillith grinning mischeviously. Lucy smiled.
"Thats for me to know and for you to not find out! I mean it Lil if you use any of your occult weirdness to unwrap your present then I'll personally see to it that next you'll be made the Hogfather instead of Head Elf!" Threatened Lucy. Lillith laughed slightly.
"Even if Miss Hunter wanted to she couldn't cast me as that. You need to be a boy to be the Hogfather," Retorted Lillith.
"Right! Choir on stage now! Freddy stop chasing Kevin with that sword now!" Yelled Mr Borgins. Lucy smiled apologetically as she followed the rest of the troupe of teenagers in overly big nightgowns. Lillith sighed as the classroom empties leaving her and Nigel Trueman or the 'Hogfather' alone. Nigel was too busy shoving cake down his throat to notice anyone else.
Lillith pulled out a small book and began to read partly to take her mind off the ordeal that was coming up and partly to block out the out of key singing coming from the Assembly Hall. She liked reading...it was a good distraction and it helped to settle her emotions which were currently on the verge of taking on a life-form of their own and running out of the window. A few minutes were what Lillith dragged into a few hours. In fact she'd finished her book before Nigel had finished his cake. Then Miss Hunter poked her head around the door giving Lillith a full view of her beady dark eyes and her granny glasses.
"Nigel darling your on next," Chimed Miss Hunter before stealing a look at Lillith, " Lilly dear not long now. Are you nervous?"
Lillith glared. It never ceased to annoy her when people asked perfectly obvious questions. She was about to make an idoit of herself in front of the entire school and it's parents. And Miss Hunter was talking to her like she was five! Lillith could think of so many things she would love to do to that teacher.
Miss Hunter was either more observant or she noticed how the air in the room had grown quite cold and how eerie Lilliths eyes were looking. In any case she backed out of the room with her hand on Nigels shoulder leaving Lillith alone with a triumphant smirk.
'You wouldn't last five minutes with my Mother...' Thought Lillith. She didn't agree with her Mother on many things...in fact they argued quite a lot but one thing they did have in common was their shared hatred of annoyingly stupid individuals. Lillith considered Miss Hunter as one of these individuals who had their own private space reserved for them in hell. Averting her eyes from the door she sighed and stood up slipping her book into one of her baggy elvish pockets and tried to avoid looking in the mirror as much as possible.
'This is stupid...I can't do this...' She thought pacing the room. Maybe if she pretended to be sick or fainted...she was good at lying..
"Lillith, your on," Said Mr Borgin peeping his head around the door.
Approaching the behind the curtains of the Assembly Hall Platform, Lillith felt like she was being lead to her execution. Backstage there was a bunch of 'actors' who were not on stage along with Miss Hunter and Mrs Olive. Lillith was directed to the makeshift wings next to the prompter who was a dwarf named Bill in the year above. On stage she could hear false happy voices but they were blocked out by her hearts furious pumping. She couldn't help but feel like the walls were moving in on her, trapping her in such an impossible situation. Finally somebody nudged her and she blinked as she was faced with bright lights.
Picture an assembly platform raised above the Assembly Hall. Picture three rows of wooden school tables with fake Pork Pies on top with dressed up teenagers behind them looking like they were wearing wrapping paper. Then picture about a hundred eyes staring up at you expectantly. That was what Lillith was faced with and she didn't like it at all. Her throat felt oddly dry and why was the room so hot? She could feel her clothes sticking to her uncomfortably.
'Just say the lines...go on...say the lines...'Prompted her brain but somehow Lillith's vocal cords couldn't register that command. Instead she could only stare in fixated horror at the audience as all memory of her lines slipped away.
"Cue, Trixy how is the sausage count!" Hissed Bill.
The so called elves were looking expectantly at Lillith. Finally a few giggles of laughter broke out in the Hall and Lillith felt her will to live jump from her body and climb out the windows. Her head was thumping painfully and her heart was pounding and she could felt like a new exhibit at the zoo. Snapping her fingers quietly she watched in relief as the Hall went silent. Each face was frozen as Lillith temporarily moved herself outside Time.
Sighing in relief she stared at the frozen faces and glared fiercely. She then grabbed the script off the prompter and sat down to read it. Her fellow classmates were all wearing looks of smugness or pity.
"I don't see whats so funny," Said Lillith to the silent room as she glared up at Sarah who was playing another elf but was in the middle of a fit of laughter, "You forgot your lines five minutes ago according to this!"
Snapping the script shut she moved through the choir until she reached Lucys figure. She couldn't shake the eerie feeling that she was being watched but she shrugged it away because it wasn't possible. She poked Lucy in the ribs and her friends glassy brown eyes blinked and then stared in puzzlement at the audience and then back at Lillith.
"You froze them didn't you?" Said Lucy curiously.
"No I just sort of placed myself outside of time...sort of...it's hard to explain and you wouldn't understand but just think of it as I stopped time and it will be easy for you to comprehend," Said Lillith shortly. Lucy nodded obediently but stared fascinatedly at the audience.
"It's strange how you do that...wish I could. It would come in handy at Family Gatherings," Commented Lucy idly. You may be wondering why Lucy wasn't so confused by the whole ordeal but she was used to what she called, "Lillith's Occult Weirdness," which she usually classed as walking through walls or disappearing the middle of a Maths lesson.
"They started laughing at me," Sighed Lillith mournfully.
"You did forget your lines," Pointed out Lucy.
"I hate people staring at me..." Snapped Lillith defensively.
"My Uncles not even paying attention...he's doing a crossword puzzle," Said Lucy absent mindedly pointing at her Uncle, "It could be worse Lillith."
"How?"
"They could be laughing at me."
"C'mon Lilly!"
Lillith snapped her book shut. It had been three days since the Play incident and it was also Hogswatch eve and she was at home. It was approximately midnight and she was lying in bed reading...or at least she was until her little brother decided it would be fun to tug her arm off.
"I'm coming...and you don't have to pull my arm so hard!" Retorted Lillith shoving her book under her pillow. William, in Lilliths opinion, looked quite a lot like her mother. He obviously did not have the white-blonde hair. Instead he possessed a bronze-reddish colour but his eyes were the same shape but a darker blue. He was tall for his age(which was ten) and already near Lillith shoulder in height. He was thin...one of those people who would eat sixteen boxes of chocolate and somehow loose weight.
She could remember how it had started...the whole business of going downstairs to unwrap a few presents. She'd been four...just after William was born and she'd wanted to get something...a present...and she had. It had sort of continued from then. Even though there was the unfortunate event three years ago when they actually did encounter the Hogfather.
Lillith sighed as she continued down the dark stairwell.
How many children at the age of nine were sat down and told the Hogfather was real? Not many...but Lillith was one of them. She'd been raised with the Occult because when your fathers the personification of Time it was hard to avoid. Her mother was very firm that she should know everything because then she was prepared for it. Lillith had met all sorts of things...the butch man who was apparently the Tooth Fairy. Her Grandmother...the History monks...and of course the Hogfather but that was rather unfortunate as Lillith had assumed he was an intruder and whacked him over the head with a large book.
Somehow she hadn't been given bones though.
Finally they reached the correct room and pass through the walls. Waving her arms the room illuminated itself including the usual Hogswatch tree. William was already on his knees picking out a present. Lillith smiled...it was odd remember how she'd been like that...it was like remembering a little sister she'd forgotten. Bending to her knee's she shivered slightly and picked up a present and read the label. She never used to but then one year she'd actually gotten curious about who kept sending her the baggy jumpers.
To Lillith from Lucy.
She should have known by the bright pink wrapping paper.
Unwrapping it she grinned. A selection box of chocolates...and they were caramel chocolate truffle. Her favourite! Sneaking the box open she took a bite out of one...then two...then she shut the box before she finished the entire contents. It seemed to be a habit but chocolate was addictive. Shoving the wrapping paper aside she then gazed at the other presents. She couldn't take anything from her mother or father...her eyes latched onto purple wrapping paper. She recognised it as the present her History teacher had given her.
An Encyclopedia. What else could she have possibly expected from a teacher?
Finally she grabbed the black wrapped one.
'Always...and no label. None at all...'Lillith eyed it warily. She'd been getting the anonymous black parcel since she was...well since she could remember. She never asked her parents because that would mean she'd have to tell them about her midnight excursions. She undid the neat black bow and opened up the parcel. Inside was a shiny silver bracelet.
Picking it up Lillith examined it critically before putting it on her wrist. She liked jewelery...and she liked silver best but somehow she wasn't the only one to know that information. Obviously maybe it was a friend of her parents...she eyed a similar one addressed to William.
"Pass me a chocolate!" Said William eyeing Lilliths box.
Lillith opened the lid and chucked a truffle at her brother. It hit him squarely on the head.
"Happy Hogswatch brat."
Lillith turned to eat another chocolate and blinked.
Eight eyes blinked back.
She quickly extracted her hand from the box and jumped onto a nearby chair. William looked at his sister puzzled for a moment until he noticed the spider. Lillith was gripping onto her sleeves very tightly...she hated spiders. William grinned at his sisters discomfort and cupped the spider into his hand.
"If...you...bring...it...near...me I guarantee you...a...painful death..." Hissed Lillith.
"Your pathetic," Stated William going over to the windowsill and opening up the window. Lillith glared ignoring the little voice in the back of her head that was agreeing strongly with her brother.
"Shut up brat!"
It wasn't until the embers of the dying fire lost their warmth that Lillith noticed anything. She was half asleep curled up like a cat while her brother was busy playing with a couple of toy soldiers. It was then she noticed that she had a strange feeling she was being watched...like when you know somebodies behind you and is about to pop up and say Boo. She glanced over at her brother...he seemed fine.
Not your imagination, Her mind spoke she sat up. The room was much darker now. She stared examining each corner in turn but she couldn't see anything. Then her heart began to pound as she noticed a faint movement in the shadows behind the Tree. She squinted...she could almost make out a figure.
'Don't panic...don't panic...'Hissed a voice in her mind as Lillith gripped the carpet. She really wanted to believe that it was her imagination...she really wanted to believe that...the only problem was that it was hard to convince herself of that. She moved over to her brother and tugged him gently on the arm.
"We're being watched," She whispered.
William stared at her doubtfully.
"Trust me..." She murmured not quite knowing what to do. She waved her arm and the light from the room vanished. She kept a tight hold of her brothers wrist and her hands scrambled across the floor until they reached the heaviest item available - the Encyclopedia. She squinted her eyes again...yes she could see something near the Tree...moving forward she raised the heavy tome and then aimed carefully and threw it.
There was an audible banging noise. Steeling the chance of a distraction she grabbed her brother and shoved him through the wall where she followed with her heart pounding in disbelief. No...she didn't just do that? Did she?
"Are you positive that there was something there?." William questioned.
"Go...upstairs...get...mum and dad," Muttered Lillith.
It was a few minutes before her Mother and Father appeared. Susan's hair was falling at her shoulders messly while her Father kept yawning.
"What happened?" Asked Susan calmly.
"I saw someone in there," Said Lillith doubtfully pointing at the door. She could see how the whole situation looked and she felt stupid. Her mother was giving her one of those looks that suggest X-ray vision into her brain.
"Go to bed Lillith," Said Susan finally.
"But...don't you release that I've just knocked someone unconscious in our living room?" Lillith spluttered in a chocked sort of voice.
"Yes I am quite aware of that possiblity but even if you have, I'll deal with it. Go to bed."
"There's somebody knocked unconscious in our living room! How can you act so calmly?" Spat Lillith in shock.
"Lillith...I think you should listen to your mother and go to bed...don't worry we'll handle it," Offered her Father kindly. Lillith shot them both an angry glare before storming up the stairs and slamming her door shut with a noise that echoed through the manor.
Probably not my best chapter as I sort of lost concentration near the end. I've got a Modern Studies exam tomorrow so my head is all over the place and I desperately needed some sort of distraction. I'll probably re-edit it later but reviews are still appreciated. I now need to go and watch a DVD or something...just anything to stop myself from thinking about the damn exam hall.
If I survive I'll update later.
Saturnsfirefly.