Lilith watched the happy couple in her nightclub. Her business partner, a man, would tell her that it wasn’t hers , it was theirs . But when he said that, it sounded an awful lot like EDEN was his .
She refused to have her life stolen from her again, like a weak little doe, getting gnawed on like a chew toy by some rabid wolf.
Or maybe she was just frustrated that her ex had decided to visit the nightclub, no doubt trying to tempt her into taking him back. She would consider it, he was a gorgeous man with a wretched personality. His slicked back hair, slight stubble shading his face like a painting.
Lilith licked her lips as her eyes trailed down to his side, and she realized who she should actually be looking at.
Eve had beautiful, long flowing silky hair straight out of a shampoo advertisement. Her makeup was subtle, and she didn’t use much, only accentuating her already stunning features. Her body was a perfect copy of the statues dotted around the club, statues that Lilith had made to be nothing but entrancing.
Her confusion was only growing, along with another unpleasant emotion. A slight tenseness as she watched him pull Eve closer. Her heart raced exponentially with each kiss they shared. Each one of Adam’s flirty remarks that were met with Eve’s giggles burrowed their way into her skull, beside the unpleasant memories of the days in which she called herself Adam’s wife .
Adam didn’t own her anymore. His father could not pressure her into submitting, being his prey. Lilith had dressed up for tonight, and she was going to take advantage of what little beauty she had left, before he could continue to take.
She made way for herself as she strutted across the club. The club is a contradiction. It was everything and nothing at the same time. Men and women, gays and straights, sports and leisure, dancers and singers, alcohol and water, whatever one could desire, EDEN provided. A place to reunite with friends, a daily meetup spot, a date night, a bachelor party, a place to be alone or a place to be together. EDEN was Lilith’s carefully crafted sanctuary.
Yet with everything EDEN provided, there was still something that Lilith was missing. Some part of herself that she had tried to grapple with, but it ran away from her each night, hiding among the dancing couples.
Lilith stood in front of the pair, clearing her throat.
Adam looked up at her with those lazy eyes of his, “Lilith?”
Lilith ignored him, turning to the goddess at his waist. She offered her hand, all of her fingers except for her middle adorned with delicate gold rings resembling snakes. Her middle finger had a ring with a bright red gem in the center. The very tip of the gem shifted to a green color. The gem was so unique, it intrigued Eve. Lilith could see the gears turning in her head.
“Care for a dance, darling? ”
Adam looks at Eve, and shakes his head.
But Eve isn’t looking at him.
“I would love to,” She says, with an abundant amount of innocent kindness.
Eve places her soft, delicate hand in Lilith’s, and the two venture to the dance floor.
Lilith and Eve had been living together for three months now, in a penthouse. The arrival of Eve was like a tornado, twisting every aspect of EDEN just slightly enough. The nightclub was now theirs , Eve demanding that Lilith’s business partner respect her wishes and skip town. The dance floor still was carefully guarded by statues resembling Lilith, although a few statues had been replaced with ones in the image of Eve. EDEN would still be open to all of its patrons, except one .
The last Lilith and Eve had heard of the creature, he was berating Eve outside of the nightclub. The pair retreated, making their way back inside of EDEN. The next day, Eve found the apartment empty of her newly-titled ex’s belongings.
Lilith runs a ringed hand through Eve’s thick, silk-like hair, the golden snakes wrapped around her finger tangling between the strands. Their limbs are intertwined, with little distinction between where Lilith’s skin started and Eve’s softer skin began.
“We should head down, love. We need to open.”
Eve rolls her eyes. The months of absence from their ex fostered a temper within her, but Lilith would have it no other way. Lilith needed someone to push back against her and set her on the right track.
Her voice is somehow softer than her skin, “For who, the daydrinkers? It only ever gets busy at the witching hour, anyways.”
“ Love ,” Lilith pleads. If she was to tell the truth, she would much rather remain here, in their comfortable paradise, than return to EDEN.
“Fine.”
Lilith studies Eve’s irises, barely making out the message they spelled through her long eyelashes. Anything for you, my love.
The pair gently detangle from one another, finding their designated paths around the penthouse and gathering their necessities. The two soulmates had not merely learned to live with one another, they learned how to coexist.
Their apartment is flourishing in all senses of the word. Eve’s gathered bouquets from their various dates. Lilith’s expensive bouquets neatly arranged in vases just at Eve’s eye level.
The pair make their way downstairs. Of course, as the two owners of EDEN, it isn’t long before some employee rushes up to them, out of breath and sufficiently worried.
She barely manages to point outside, her arm quivering under it’s own weight.
Eve, the careful being she is, took on the role of consoling the employee. She attempts to coax an explanation out of the employee’s trembling lips.
Lilith didn’t have time to wait. Any threat to EDEN might as well be a threat to Eve’s or her own safety. She storms towards the door, her footsteps echoing like an alarm across the high ceilings of the nightclub.
The flings open the door, and in a pathetic ball lies a young man at her doorstep. Although she knows better, all her raging eyes can see are Adam’s eyes.
I’ve fallen in love with Death,
She pulled me in with her scythe,
And though her blade sliced my skin,
(Leaving a long, straight scar)
Her lips filled me with warmth.
Her embrace is not cold at all,
(though the corpses will convince you otherwise)
It lingers on my skin,
A constant reminder of the time we spent together
I hear her calling out to me.
(Like a siren, but without the rocks to crash on)
No, instead, she lures me endlessly
I chase her like a memory.
She’s chained my heart,
Locked my mind.
(So that I forever remain faithful)
A wolf and her sheep, I’ll trot along at her heels.
I’ll drink her poison like wine,
I’ll bleed for her with tears of joy,
I’ll let her strangle me as if she was cuddling me.
Every mark, bruise, cut, scar,
Reminds me that she’s still there.
(I’ve always needed “tough love”)
Although her skin seems flawless these days…
On Valentine’s day, I’ll buy her flowers
And I’ll see doting boyfriends, enamored girlfriends
And the chains on my heart will tighten
For its time to go back to Death.
I can’t finish it, of course.
I’ve tried.
I poured out the pieces,
Clicking them into place methodically.
Yet, at its heart, there’s a piece missing.
I obsess over making fragments,
(as if that will solve anything)
But they dissolve away,
They don’t fit.
I trace the edges of the missing piece,
Staring straight through
to the mirror platter underneath
Into my own eyes.
This puzzle can’t be solved.
Not by me, at least.
And so, I bestow it upon you,
To find the missing piece.
Dance on my corpse,
Classically.
Laugh, giggle, embrace, and love each other.
My funeral should be a happy one.
Take the breaths that were mine.
Forget about my lungs.
I’ll give the air,
To you.
Use my grave as a bed
Rest your weary body,
And let my bones press into the dirt.
Open my heart and crawl inside,
As long as you’re warm
I’ll be okay.
Let my body lie limp,
Growing colder,
Greyer,
Sloppier,
Until there’s nothing left.
Dance on my corpse,
Please.