The next morning, Ruth came to Rachel's dorm to oversee Maddie and Hattie pack their things. The twins would be sent to Pretty And Pink's Virginia building, which happened to be the company's first establishment. The whole time Maddie and Hattie were packing, they cast dirty looks in Rachel's direction.

"I hope you're happy, bitch," Maddie said to Rachel. "Now we're getting yanked out of our lives here."

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to get yanked out of my old life, either," Rachel said coldly.

"Where did you live, in another orphanage?" Hattie asked.

As long as I can remember, I have always had a bit of a thing about wildlife and plants. After school hours when the others were hanging out together in coffee bars or games arcades I just left them to it and did my own thing. I was always more interested in going on rambles in the local woods or on the moors rising up behind the family farm.

For the next few days, Rachel kept going to school and working with Jesse as her lab partner. It felt weird, since she knew him so well and he didn't know her (or so he thought), but their interactions were mostly good. There was one incident where Rachel felt like she'd slightly annoyed Jesse, but he seemed to have gotten over it by the end of class.

The next week, however, things were different. When Rachel got to her Science class, the teacher Mrs. McLain had an announcement. "Okay, everyone," she said, "Today's the first day of our Sex Ed unit. And you know what that means."

I returned her intense look and felt a wave of relief washing over me. I noticed a tiny smile on her face that was getting bigger by the second.

I tried to pull her up slowly. A few seconds later, Mary was up and let herself fall into my arms. We hugged intently for a while. Two sisters against the world. Nobody and nothing could shake us.

During this intense hug we were both crying. We held each other close a little bit longer and then finally let go.

“I am so sorry, Riley. I think that I was way too harsh.”

“I know almost everything they say about lawyers,” he responded. “We make up most of the jokes ourselves. But what do they say about linguists?”

Randy didn't know what to do. He'd lost his family and his house. He didn't have any immediate relatives he could live with, and as far as friends went...there was Jesse Pindle. He was Randy's best friend, and his family had always been very hospitable to Randy. But the Pindles were off on a cruise, and they wouldn't be home for another couple weeks. Randy wished very badly that he could stay with them, but they wouldn't be an option. All he could do was find a secluded alleyway and sleep in there for the night.

"It's Saturday, Mom!" I Shouted.

Watching the spreading fire through the eyes of a ghost flying high above the camp, Keir smiled at his work. He'd never tried to animate a forest before, the challenge had been interesting. Of course he'd never been near a forest where virtually all of the plants were dead. He wasn't sure if he should find the creation of poison gas on such a scale interesting or terrifying.

Author’s note: TRIGGER WARNING. This chapter contains a description of abuse and sex trafficking. Also, this is the final chapter of the first book of Lilith. I have more planned but I will have to wait a bit to get the outline done on it before I start writing. I am grateful to all of you who have traveled through the adventures of Lilith.
***

December 6th
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Hello, Elise,
Hey, there, Seth. Just a reminder from me:

The demons moved cautiously through the dead forest. Most of them had fought in the ferocious battles that had seen the humans nearly exterminated in the region. The piles of bones, the cracking of dead wood, and the stench of death reminded them that the enemy couldn't be underestimated. Still, the instinctive need to kill the humans was strong.

Calci and I were working on our anti-mind control potion again. Like the other day the first half of the class had been a lecture on various alchemicals and how they interact with each other. Professor Pyrotechny was still smoking from adding dragons bile to cockatrice venom. The clockwork teacher been demonstrating why reading the instructions was extremely important, and how two seemingly harmless ingredients could have a very volatile reaction.

Keir sat back watching the dead work under direction of living officers, preparing for the coming battle. Most of the living were checking their weapons or resting before the demons arrived. One of the priests was holding a quick service for anyone needing religious support.