23. The Lilith Method

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Saturday, August 29th
Waning Gibbous Moon (Twenty-Six Nights to Full Moon)

The next day, I slept in as long as I could. I got up around ten in the morning and leisurely took a shower. I brushed out my wet hair and stayed in my pajamas most of the morning, not wanting to be productive. I didn’t feel like studying, but I forced myself to read a bit from my textbooks and I was able to catch up on some reading. I eventually gave up on schoolwork and put on some clothes, just watching television until nightfall. Every now and then I would glance out the living room window, watching the sun slowly sink below the horizon.

As the last bit of color faded from the sky, I heard Lilith’s bedroom door open.

“Ready?” She asked. I glanced at her standing there, waiting. She was dressed in what seemed to be her wardrobe staple, black. Tonight, she had on black hiking boots, tight black pants, and a black tank top, exposing her ghostly white arms and shoulders.


I had on an old pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt. I slid off the bed and slipped into some worn tennis shoes. Half of my wardrobe consisted of Goodwill purchases, things I could easily shred without thinking twice about.

“Let’s do it,” I said, resigned.

Lilith led me to the parking garage, where her car was parked. She unlocked the silver Mercedes and I slid into the passenger’s seat. She started up the car, which sounded louder than it should be, and said, “You might want to use the seatbelt.” I looked over at her and she grinned, happier at that moment than I had ever seen her.

When we left the parking garage, she sped through the side streets to the highway, going over the speed limit and driving a little dangerously. I didn’t say anything, though. It’s not like we both wouldn’t survive a car accident. We drove about twenty minutes on the highway before she exited. During the entire drive, neither of us spoke. I had questions to ask her, but I was afraid of the answers. I wanted to know where we were going, I wanted to know what she had planned, or even if she had a plan, but again, I didn’t ask.

She didn’t even have the radio on, so all I could hear was the road noise and the roar of the car’s engine. It had to be modified or tweaked, because I’d never heard an engine that loud before, especially coming from such an innocent-looking car.

Every ounce of instinct I had was telling me this was a bad idea. Tala was grumpy, the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up, and her smell, that smell of vampire pervaded the tiny space, putting me on edge.

She turned onto a road I’d never been to before. There were no streetlights or houses. Fields, low bushes, and herds of sleeping cattle made up the landscape. “If you get hungry…” She joked when she noticed me looking at the cows. The suddenness of her voice startled me and I flinched. I knew she’d noticed, and I knew she could smell my fear, but I couldn’t help it. It was dark and sparsely populated here where she’d brought me. If she wanted to kill me, she’d chosen a perfect spot to do so. Our only witnesses would be the livestock.

“This place is as good as any,” She remarked as she pulled over. We got out of the car and she hopped over the barbed wire fence. I paused, wondering if I should just make a run for it. I wondered which was faster, vampire or werewolf?

“Come on Selene, you’re burning moonlight,” She smiled. She continued deeper into the pasture towards a cluster of trees and what looked to be a stock pond.

I hopped over the fence and followed her, hoping for the best.

When I caught up to her, she was standing near the water, gazing into the glassy pool. “So you do have a reflection,” I joked.

She looked up at me, unsmiling. “We don’t have much time,” She was scolding me.

“What do you want me to do then, ‘Oh Great Teacher?’” I said sarcastically.

“Change,” She looked back to the water.

“Right now?” I looked up at the waning moon. “The moon isn’t even close to being full.”

“Use your own power, then. Don’t rely on the moon.” She said, as if she were speaking to a small child.

“I don’t know if I have enough power to completely change when the moon isn’t full.”

“Yes, you do. I know you do. Just because you’ve never done it before doesn’t mean you can’t.”

I sighed and took off my shoes, trying to avoid stepping in a cow patty. I then crouched low to the ground and tried to concentrate on the change, on the wolf inside me.

After a few minutes of no results, Lilith walked over to me and crouched down in front of me, her face inches from mine. “This isn’t working,” She said.

“Really?” I was feeling unusually sarcastic.

“You aren’t doing it right. You have your inner wolf all bottled up inside. Release her.” She put her cold hands on my cheeks, holding my head.

“Are you kidding? I can’t release Tala! She’ll take over!”

“That’s why I’m here. I am going to help you control her.”

“She’s powerful,” I whispered, half-whimpering.

“So am I,” She grinned, her canines longer than usual, glistening in the little moonlight there was.

“Fine, I’m going to release her completely. It’ll be her, not me. She always pushes me down, I usually black out.”

“That’s fine. I just need you to do this once so I can begin your training. You’ll understand later.”

“I hope you can control her,” I sighed and looked inward. Tala was already restless, with Lilith touching our bare skin. She was angry that I had let the vampire so close.

Over the past few days, I had come to realize that I could push Tala down inside and keep her down, but once I tried to tap into her power, that was when I always lost control. Releasing my control over her was like opening up a floodgate. I had no way to stop her. Your turn, Tala, I told her as I dropped my control over her. I could feel her elation at being released, and also her anger at me for putting her in this situation. She was going to show me just what she thought of the vampire in front of us.

The last thing I remembered was Lilith’s pale face still staring into mine, her blue eyes glowing in the night, filled with an eagerness I had never seen before. I was worried for her sake. I wanted her to listen to my warnings about Tala.

I should have known better.

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A/N: It's Christmas Eve! I get to make snickerdoodles today, whee! Not much to say about this chapter, remember there's another one coming tomorrow.