Lila Lovely is Hungry (3)

The next 8 parts:

Lila Lovely - Part 17

The woman slid into the booth to look across the table at her. She reached out, taking Lila’s hand in hers. This was too easy. Lila could barely keep the gleam out of her eyes. The blackness slid under the cuff of the woman’s blouse. “The old woman and the blind girl; they killed those people,” the woman said. “We’re going to try and get them to leave town tonight.”

Lila Lovely - Part 18

At the door of the old gray house Lila licked her fingertips. The woman did taste good; just that little bit of her that she’d managed to get. All those curves, burned to a crisp before morning. Lila sighed. She hadn’t touched the man’s flesh, but the blackness would find it’s way through his clothing. He’d die a little later, and quite nastily. Before she could knock the door opened. “Lila?” Olivia asked. “Yes?” “They’re going to kill us, aren’t they?”

Lila Lovely - Part 19

Lila waited, perched on top of the roof, hidden in the shadows of the chimney. People were coming. Quietly. A cancerous mass spreading toward the house. The Dead Man crawled up the shingles to her. “Go away,” she growled. “You need help,” he answered. “No I don’t. They do. They will.” She flung herself forward, plunged to the ground and unsheathed her nails to talon length. She crouched there a malevolent gargoyle, blackness dripping from her bared teeth. Behind her she heard the thud of the Dead Man as he joined her.

Lila Lovely - Part 20

Like the avenging angel Olivia had called her Lila slashed her way through the crowd, spewing black death from her fingertips with every turn. The Dead Man lumbered after her. He was starting to fail, but whatever it was keeping him going wouldn’t stop until his job was done. They disappeared into the shadows and watched the crowd crawl away from the house.

Lila Lovely - Part 21

Lila cat crawled cautiously over the killing field surrounding the house. Olivia and the old woman were on the porch, the Dead Man crouched out of sight next to it. Olivia held her hand to the side. She could feel his presence. Lila drew deep breaths of the fear clinging to the trampled grass and shuddered in pleasure. The house would never be attacked again. And many of the attackers would not make it back to their own houses.

Lila Lovely - Part 22

In the kitchen the old woman studied Lila. “How many?” she asked. Lila shrugged. “As many as it takes.” the old woman nodded. “He ain’t going away, is he?” Again Lila shrugged. “I don’t know him.” “Why are you here?” The old woman grabbed her hand. Nothing happened. She was already protected. She felt where Lila’s nails were sheathed. Once more she asked, “Why are you here?” Lila gave a barren little smile. “Because some people need to die.”

Lila Lovely - Part 23

Lila moved through the town. Opened curtains closed quickly. She could pick the houses with a dying person in it. But what she wanted was the house with the most life. that was the house that dealt out unwarranted death and that was the house she would take down. Someone leapt out the night at her, but the Dead Man took him down. She stopped, a pencil thin shadow within another shadow. Without a word the Dead Man followed her out of town.

Lila Lovely -Part 24

They sat side-by-side, the Dead Man and Lila. They didn’t feel the cold rock under them, nor the fog around them. They couldn’t see the ten vials spread out on the ground in front of them, but they knew they were there. Lila reached down, picked up a vial and ran a finger around the inside rim. She started to lick the finger. The Dead Man’s hand shot out to stop her. “It won’t affect me,” she said. “You?” “Not any more.”

Lila Lovely is Hungry (2)

The next 8 parts

Lila Lovely - Part 9

The blind girl’s fingertips caressed Lila’s cheek. Lila’d never felt anything like that before. The old woman at the kitchen table smiled. “She can tell a lot about you with that touch of hers, she can.” Lila tried to smile back. “What do you think, Olivia?” the old woman asked as Olivia’s hands withdrew from Lila’s face. “She has the soul of an angel,” she said. “An avenging angel.” The old woman laughed. “You can stay with us. But when you’re done with your business, you leave.”

Lila Lovely - Part 10

Lila sat in the middle of her room, all her senses down but one. She concentrated on the house, probed each room, felt the breathing of the sleeping women. She breathed with their rhythm. There was someone else. Outside. Circling, circling. But no malice? Her eyes snapped open. She’d fed from him that afternoon.

Lila Lovely - Part 11

She crawled down the side of the house, blending with the shadows and flaking paint. Anxiety, impatience, anger. The encroached on her psyche. The figure passed her hiding place in the bushes. He tried a window, paced, tried again. All locked. He sat and rocked back and forth. He didn’t move when she touched him.

Lila Lovely - Part 12

“I’m dead,” he said. “You already killed me. You can’t do it again.” He faced her with empty eye sockets. “Protect them. You have to protect them.” She drew back. No one had ever continued on after she’d fed. “Olivia, the old woman. They’re innocents.” Lila squatted on her heels in front of him. She touched him again. Golden globules flowed to him, and retreated back. He was beyond protection.

Lila Lovely - Part 13

Lila sat at the table in the dark room. She pressed her right hand down, hard, on the table. Blackness oozed from it, hesitated, and flowed back. She pressed her left hand down, hard, on the table. Little golden flecks scampered from her fingertips, then larger and larger pieces flowed like rivulets. She yanked her hand back and the golden glow faded down, down, down until it thinned and spread throughout the house. The women were safe. They would always be safe. Now she could hunt.

Lila Lovely - Part 14

She crawled carefully through the field where the nine bodies had been. She wished she’d had time to inspect the one in the bag. “Over here!” the hollow whisper of the Dead Man. She touched him again, the gold refused to leave her hand. He brushed it away. “Under this rock. I can’t lift it.” To her it weighed nothing. She carefully moved the grubs aside and covered them again with dirt. Then frowned at the uncovered hole. Ten vials. Poison? But where had the blood come from?

Lila Lovely - Part 15

The Dead man’s empty eyes stared at her. “That’s why you didn’t smell any fear. There was none.” He knew about the smell of fear? Did he know who she was and why she was there? She ran from him, down into the valley, into the town. She wished Daddy were here. Then the whiff. That unmistakable smell. Her pulse beat in time to her run. Her tongue moistened her lips. She could feed again.

Lila Lovely - Part 16

The cafe was quiet. He stood over her, looking down at the steam from her cup of coffee, intruding. Tall, slender, a nice suit and a slime crusted attitude. She knew what he thought by the way he looked at her hair. Mohawks weren’t proper here. “You’re staying with the old woman and the blind girl,” he said. She decided he wouldn’t taste good at all. But the curvy woman behind him would. She smiled sweetly at the woman. “What of it?”