Mais ou sont les neiges d’antan?


Posted by rachael this is my last entry ross on September 29, 2004 at 17:32:21:

They're showing Charlie's Angels - Full Throttle on HBO here in Asia. It's promo after promo and all I can think of his how I'd like to see "Charlie's Angels - Throttled"

I'd write it, if I had a clue about Charlie's Angels 2, but I had no desire to see it. Or the first one. So maybe I'm missing out.

But I don't think so.

Here's something else.

For the “worst story competition” at Sam’s Place…The title is just insurance.

=-=-=-=-=-=-

Copyright 2004 by Rachael Ross all rights reserved.

Mais ou sont les neiges d’antan?
Fiction by Rachael


There was a temple in the basement. It was simple enough, just an alter made of wood, solid and sturdy, made by Adam the very day he had purchased the house. It was covered with a coarse linen sheet, woven by Eve, and dyed to a striking golden color. There was a chalice of red clay, also made by Eve, along with a platter and two candlestick holders. The candles had been made by Cain, who had learned the method from his father, using fat from a cow. One of the bones from that same beast had also been used to fashion the sacrificial knife, which Abel had honed to fine edge, and carved intricate angels around the handle.

The rough walls had been decorated with sprigs and leaves and flowers, some fresh and some dried and flaking to the dirt floor. The only lights were from the candles, the only sounds were the chanting of Cain and Abel while their father anointed a small calf in preparation for offering to the Lord.

They were only four, the two parents and the two sons, alone in the wilderness in which they found themselves. They worshipped the One True God who had created them, surrounded by unbelievers and heathens, the unclean. It was a difficult existence and all the more so since Adam and his wife Eve could still remember the Garden where they’d first lived, before Eve’s sin had caused the Lord to cast them out of Eden. Now they found themselves in this…place.

“I hate Seattle.” Adam was washing dishes while his brother dried them, putting each one carefully away. Adam was 19 and had just started college, but he found it a chore because it took time away from his devotions to the Lord.

“It’s not so bad; you just need to get out more, bro.” Cain was 22 and had graduated from the University the year before with a bachelors degree in sociology and now worked as a bouncer at a strip club near the airport.

“Father told me I should start looking for a wife.” Abel frowned. “They’re all heathens though! These women, they worship idols and paint their faces to look like angels.”

Cain laughed. “Yeah, they do all of that.” He grinned at his younger brother. “And then some.”

“They’re unclean.” Abel looked up at Cain’s face. “I don’t see anything funny about it.”

“You pray too much.” Cain shook his head.

“And you don’t pray enough.” Abel pulled the drain and rinsed his hands. “God’s unhappy with you.”

“I was talking to God just the other day, he didn’t seem pissed.” Cain grabbed the last plate, drying it slowly. “Why, did he say something to you?”

“Well, not exactly.” Abel allowed. “But I can tell.”

“Pffft…” Cain exhaled. “Yeah right.”

+++

Upstairs Adam was fingering the leather corded whip in his hands. “Bend over wife, it is time now.” He was naked and his hardness ached at the thought of performing this service to the Lord.

“Yes husband.” Eve whispered. She was very old, but her lithe form moved gracefully onto the bed. She looked only a few years older than she had when God had created her, despite the hardships and bearing two strong boys for her husband. She was blonde and tall, her skin unblemished but for the scars across her back and thighs.

The Lord had decreed that she would never know Adam again as a wife should, but only as a harlot, an unclean sinner. Her husband whipped her nightly while she prayed and then he would sodomize her roughly, taking his pleasure from her anus like a beast. She thanked her God that at least He had not denied her the pleasure that accompanied such debasement. She had blamed the serpent at first, but now after a thousand centuries of painful humiliation, Eve knew that it had been she alone who had sinned mightily before the Lord. She deserved her punishments and eagerly accepted them.

The heavy slap of the leather whip, damp with perspiration and blood, echoed through the house and was soon joined by the high pitched wail of Eve’s supplications and the low grunts of Adam’s efforts.

Cain laughed and clapped his brother on the back. “Mother is singing again…Oh glory to God, the Lord and the light…” Cain’s singing was poor at best and Abel sighed, wondering why his brother felt the need to add his voice to that of their mother’s. He sensed that Cain was mocking the ritual and it deeply saddened the handsome young man.

+++

“Good morning Abel, where is your brother?” Eve was serving breakfast, their usual simple fare of fruits and fresh cream, with toasted homemade bread.

“I’m here mother.” Cain walked into the small kitchen and Adam joined them for their morning prayer, thanking the Lord for the new day and the food on the table.

Adam was a florist, working at a local nursery. His passion was orchids and people were amazed at his skill with raising the difficult plants. He’d tried to explain once that he’d once lived in the Garden of Eden, which had been full of orchids, and it had pleased the Lord to give Adam a certain empathy with them. But most people didn’t seem to understand.

Eve had opened her own restaurant, called ‘The Garden of Eden’ and it had become quite the little success, largely due to the popularity of thematic entertainment in general. All of her waiters and waitresses walked around in skimpy uniforms resembling fig leaves, and the atmosphere was very lush and tropical. Ribs were the house specialty and the apple pie was simply the best in all of Seattle. Eve would have been quite proud of it, but she’d been to the real Garden and it was nothing like what could be recreated in Seattle. Besides, she would remind herself, pride was a grievous sin. It was enough to be on the cover of last month’s Pacific Cuisine.

+++

“Hello Abel.” It was a soft voice, different from any other, and it made the young man look up from his notes.

Abel expected to see another one of the whores who attended the university, women who dressed obscenely, painted their lips and eyes, and promised their bodies with every gesture. But this woman was different, he could sense it, she was one of the humans, those made in God’s own image.

“Hello.” He looked at her carefully from where he sat in the shade of a large tree. She was tall, with a pale complexion and long black hair. Her face was beautiful and touched with sadness he thought, in her brown eyes and upon her full pouting lips. She wore no cosmetics, no jewelry, and her dress was simple and covered her from her delicate neck to her ankles. Even the sleeves were long, reaching to her wrists.

“May I sit with you?” She did not smile, as the man might have expected, instead she merely stared at him.

“Yes, you may.” And he watched her fold her legs gracefully, until she sat demure and silent beside him. “Are you an angel?” He asked, using the true meaning of the word, which is a Messenger of God.

“I have come to tell you, Abel, the Lord is pleased by your devotion. He would have you make a sacrifice to him, upon the noon sun after the next full moon.”

“And what will I offer my Lord?” Abel asked.

“He has not told me, Abel. It is to be your offering alone, and so I cannot advise you.” She did smile then, barely and it caused a strange confusion in the young man’s heart. “I will leave you now.”

“No.” Abel said suddenly, without really meaning to. “I…I would have you stay, please, for a moment.” He looked in the woman’s eyes until he had to turn away.

“I will stay for a moment, if you wish it.”

“Will you tell me your name also?”

“I am called Lilith.”

Abel frowned briefly, wondering perhaps if he hadn’t heard such a name before. “Lilith.” He repeated, enjoying the way it felt upon his lips.

“I will go now; I have other duties to perform.” The beautiful woman rose. “Perhaps…” She started to say, and then pursed her lips, looking away.

“Yes?” Abel couldn’t bear the silence with that one word hanging between them.

“Perhaps you will remember me, tonight.”

“In my prayers? Yes! Of course!” Abel found his heart lifting almost painfully at the thought.

“And after, sweet Abel?” She turned around, without waiting for a response the man couldn’t find.

+++

The Bodyshop was typical of the strip clubs in Seattle. The girl’s were all heathens and whores; the men who came to witness their lustful depravity were Sodomites all. They were unbeliever’s and born without souls, but Cain enjoyed their revelries all the same. He’d even coupled with several of the harlots, knowing that they were merely animals and subservient. He’d consumed their alcohol and tobacco, partaken in excesses of the flesh, and poisoned his sensibilities with sin.

“Hello Cain.” Her voice cut beneath the music like a razor and ripped open the man’s heart. Cain had been speaking with a blonde dancer named Cherry when his head turned in unconscious response.

“Hey, what do you think you’re…” Cherry had begun speaking, seeing only a beautiful young woman, some Goth bitch, moving in on her man. Cain was handsome, like Abel, created in God’s image and perfect. All the women wanted him, but tonight he was Cherry’s, he’d promised!

The woman put a finger to her lips. “Shhhh…” And Cherry voice died, though her lips moved and her eyes went wide.

Cain glanced at Cherry and then stared hard at the woman standing near him, with her pale skin and black hair, penetrating brown eyes and the hint of a smile upon her lips. She was one of them, he knew, a person created by God and given dominion over the earth and everything upon it.

“Who…?” He started to ask, but she cut him off.

“The Lord our God is unhappy, Cain. He has sent me to tell you this.”

“I am at the Lord’s mercy.” Cain replied, feeling his heart swelling as he looked at the angel. “Tell me how I may please him.”

“The Lord requires an offering, a sacrifice upon an alter of your construction, upon the noon of the first day of the full moon.”

“And what shall I sacrifice to our Lord?” Cain licked his lips.

“I do not know. Your offering is your sign, and yours alone, I cannot advise you in such things.” She looked at him intently for a long moment, seeming oblivious to their surroundings, and then the woman turned to leave.

“Wait! Please, what is your name?” Cain reached out as if to grab her arm, but instead his fingertips brushed only the cool fabric of her simple dress.

“I am Lilith.” She turned back to the young man, smiling with a tempting mixture of modesty and amusement. "Why do you stay in this place?"

"I'm just a shepherd."

Lilith smiled at that and started to turn away, but Cain's voice stopped her.

The dancer, Cherry was tugging at Cain’s arm, her lips moving uselessly as she still tried to speak. He shrugged her off, unable to look away from Lilith. “I’ve never seen a real…woman…before. I…” Cain suddenly felt deep shame for being in that place. “I would like to speak with you.”

“Would you pray with me, Cain?” Lilith smiled sadly.

Cain swallowed nervously. “If you would like, yes, of course.” He nodded.

“Then we shall see.” The angel closed her eyes and one corner of her mouth lifted. “Good night dear Cain.” She turned and left Cain watching her until she’d disappeared out the doors.

=-=-=

That evening Abel did indeed remember Lilith in his prayers. He remembered her smile and the way the wind had moved her hair, so that just a strand of it had caught in her eyes. He remembered her voice and her movements, and in the remembering Abel felt his manhood stirring.

It was not unwelcome, and the young man felt no shame in it. God himself had commanded that they should be fruitful and multiply. But he did nothing else. To stain his hand with the seed of life was a wasteful sin; it led to lust and jealousy, envy and greed. He’d indulge none of that, for his heart was pure.

Even so, during the night as he slept, Lilith crept into his dreams and he found himself once more upon that soft green lawn. Her scent wafted on the breeze and it stirred him. When she moved closer, he did not resist, but opened himself to her smile. He took her, as a man might take his wife, possessing her body as only a man who is dreaming can.

When Abel awoke he was embarrassed to find he had stained his bed sheets. He was damp and sticky and he saw this as a weakness. He’d been tempted to speak of the angel with his parents; to express his thoughts that perhaps he’d found a wife. A believer and not a harlot, one who could provide children to worship the Lord.

But now, he felt ashamed of his interest in her. Of his lack of patience and faith. He washed himself, and remade his bed, lest his mother discover what had happened and be equally shamed. He could not speak of her now, he knew. Not until he had cleansed that part of him that had betrayed his devotion to God.

=-=-=

Cain had not slept in his bed. He’d found himself in Cherry’s apartment, listening to the whore whine about losing her voice for almost 3 full hours. He finally shut her up with a well aimed thrust of his aching manhood between her lips. But always that night, no matter how he used the bestial woman beneath him, Cain imagined it was Lilith he was with.

She was not an animal, he knew, she was human. And so she would be his wife, his devoted mate as God had intended for all of his creations. Even the lowest dogs could find a mate. Around him these people, who were so much less that that really, had spouses and children. Why not he himself?

“Lilith.” He sighed, pressing his erection between the plump excited folds of Cherry’s sex.

“Huh? She looked up at her lover, trying to understand what he was saying.

But Cain merely ignored her. She was only slightly better than masturbation, the man thought, and only because it made less of a mess for him to clean up when he was done.

=-=-=

“Hey, can we swing by the river?” Abel was riding along with Cain in his big truck; they were on their way to Snoqualmie to get some wood.

“What?” Cain was barely paying attention, he was thinking of Lilith.

“I need to stop by the river, I need some clay.”

“Why don’t you just go to Henderson’s?” That was an arts and crafts place close to the University.

“Because, I need to get it myself.” Abel paused, not really wanting to explain why.

“What for?” Cain laughed, because he knew his brother pretty well.

“I need to make an offering to God.” He looked at Cain. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Sure, hell yeah.” Cain said, knowing that would irk his brother.

“Don’t swear.” Abel shook his head. “I met someone. A girl, a real girl.”

“What?” Cain almost went into the ditch. “What, uh…what’s her name?”

“Lilith.” Abel smiled as he said it.

“Tall girl? Thin, pretty face, big tits?” Cain glanced at his brother.

“Yeah, well, something like that.” Abel allowed, though he didn’t care for the phrasing. “She’s an angel. She told me I had to make an offering unto the Lord.”

“Oh.” Cain frowned.

“You know her?” Abel stared at his brother. He knew Cain pretty darn good also.

“Well…uh, she comes into the club, you know.” Cain grinned.

“What?”

“Yeah, she’s a big tipper.” Cain loved pissing his brother off. “Got a lap dance from Cherry the other day. Shut that bitch right up! I gotta tell ya, bro…” He looked at Abel and put on a pained expression of sympathy. “You’re angel…she’s a carpet cleaner.”

“A…what?” Abel stared at Cain in disbelief.

“A rug muncher, you know…A lesbian.” Cain shrugged. “That was a sin, last time I checked.”

“So is lying!” Abel glared at Cain angrily.

“Who’s lying here?” Cain gave Abel a dirty look.

Abel just stared.

“Okay, okay…sheesh…She came in and said God wants more stuff, like He ain’t got enough dead sheep already.”

“And?”

“And what? I said sure…what does he want, but she didn’t know… ‘It’s your sign…’ she says, and so I says, look Lily, it’s a five dollar cover, pay up or get out…”

“You did not!” Abel shook his head.

Nah…” Cain laughed and actually got Abel to smile, just a little. “I wanted to bone her too bad to say that, bro!”

“Well, you can’t do…that.” Abel said definitively.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna marry that woman.” Abel folded his arms across his chest and smiled. “I love her.”

“Well, I love her too. So maybe you should buy a dog, Abel.”

“Maybe you should watch the road!” Abel grabbed the steering wheel and yanked it hard over so that they narrowly missed two people on bicycles.

“Aww…who cares. They’re not even human.”

“Yeah, but God doesn’t like roadkill, didn’t you get the memo?”

“Yeah, I got it. He’s thinking about adding Thou Shalt Not Kill to the six commandments, but that doesn’t apply to animals, does it?”

“I don’t know, but…”

Cain snapped his fingers, interrupting Abel’s thought. “I got it!”

“You got what?”

“This Lilith business. God sends this foxy hot to trot angel right? Saying we each gotta make an offering, right? But He don’t tell us what and he don’t tell us why, right?”

“Right, right.” Abel was nodding. So?”

“So…it’s a test! It’s a contest!”

“What?” Abel frowned. “What kind of contest is that?”

“It’s a ‘Best Offering Gets The Girl’ contest!” Cain grinned. “Don’t ya get it? God’s giving us a woman, a real believer to be fruitful and do the math with!”

“Ohhhh…I don’t know about that.” Abel shook his head. “She didn’t look like that sort of girl.”

“What sort?” Cain laughed. “Shit! She’s probably been looking for a husband as long as we’ve been looking for wives, man!”

“You think?”

“Hell, she probably won a contest of her own, just so she could be the prize in this one! It all makes sense!”

“Yeah, mmm…maybe. God does have a sense of humor about stuff like that.”

“Hey, uh…Abel…So what are you offering?”

“Oh…” Abel turned his head, looking out the window. “A little of this, a little of that, you know.”

"They were quiet for minute before Abel turned to look at his brother.

"What are you offering?"

Cain shrugged. "I don't know yet." He gave his brother a sideways glance, whatever it was going to be, Cain thought, it’s gonna be better than yours bro!

=-=-=-=

"Good morning, Abel." Lilith was standing a few feet away, once more on the soft green grass of the college campus. Behind her the morning sun was still low in the eastern sky, and Abel could see the effect it had, turning her simple linen shift into something soft and gauzy, outlining her naked form beneath. He swallowed nervously as he could just make out the swell of her sex between her slightly spread thighs and he looked away.

“Hello Lilith." He spoke softly. It had been nearly a fortnight since their first meeting. Abel had dreamt of her every night, sometimes passionate visions that aroused his senses to such a state that he'd awoken, sweating and breathless, and unable to sleep again. Other times it had been soft and subtle, a caress upon his sleeping form and he would rise in the morning expecting to find the woman beside him.

"Do you think of me? After your prayers, Abel?" She sat down, unbidden and folded her long legs beneath her slender form.

The young man glanced up, sharply, wondering if she mocked him.

"Or, have you forgotten me so soon?" Lilith lowered her own face as if that were something she'd expected. Her tone was not humorous, sarcastic or knowing. It was lonely.

"No." Abel's heart softened immediately. "No, I have not forgotten. every night for me is a torment!" He paused, tilting his head. "I have done more than think of you, Lilith. I have dreamt of you in...many ways. Unclean ways. Forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive, dear Abel." She was looking down, her delicate fingers weaving dandelions into a braid. "I too have...dreamt."

"You have?" Abel sat up straighter; it had not occurred to him that she would feel anything. It had been too much for hope, to believe such a thing.

Lilith sighed, her proud ripe breasts rising so that her nipples were prominent with their hardness. She looked around the University grounds, at the people sitting, walking, talking, reading, doing all manner of things. Going about their lives, innocent of the real world around them.

"I wish I were one of them, Abel."

"Who?" Abel looked at the beautiful woman, leaning closer and scenting the oils in her hair.

"That one..." She pointed to a woman, perhaps 20 years old. Black haired and slender, moving gracefully across the lawns. She carried her books and smiled, seeming to laugh, although she was alone. "She is in love." Lilith smiled. "She is thinking of him and there is nothing else. She cannot see us."

"But...she is empty." Abel stared at the unknown girl. To his eyes she was a shadow, there was no aura of divine presence. "She has no soul."

"But she has love, Abel. There is a light there, a different sort..." She blushed, seeming to catch herself suddenly. "You are right."

"Don't worry, Lilith." Abel reached out and took her hand. "I will pray with you."

She nodded, unable to speak. Lilith was crying.

=-=-=

"And this is the temple where you pray?" Lilith's voice was tinged with humor and she smiled, standing in the doorway and toying with a dandelion chain woven in her hair.

Cain looked up from his knees, turning his face to look over his shoulder.

In front of him on an old leather chair sat Wendy, her long tan legs spread wide, hooked over the arms of the chair. She'd been smoking a cigarette and she blew an angry cloud of smoke into the air. "Hey! What'd you stop for?" She made a face. "Go down, baby, come on!" She pulled Cain's mouth back to her sex, but he shrugged her off.

"What?" Cain said.

Wendy followed his gaze and finally saw Lilith, dressed in her thin linen dress, devoid of any makeup or jewelry except the flowers in her hair. "Fucking elf! Get out of here!"

"I asked if this was your temple." Lilith moved into the room, rebuking the stripper on the chair with a little twitch of her lips.

"It's a dressing room and uh, Wendy...uh, well...she had a boo-boo that needed kissing." Cain stood up slowly, wiping around his mouth and chin with his hand. "I didn't think you were coming back."

"Who the fuck is she?" Wendy kicked her foot at Cain, trying to get his attention.

"Shut up." Cain pushed the girl's foot away.

"We have not prayed yet." Lilith shrugged. "I thought perhaps..." Her voice trailed away.

"Cain!" The girl whined and Lilith looked at her. "What the fuck are you looking at? Get her out of here, Cain!" She flicked her cigarette at Lilith, so it struck the hem of her dress.

"Give her to me." Lilith said.

"Give her?" Cain shrugged. "Take her. She isn't mine."

"I thought you were a shepherd." Lilith laughed and it sounded like glass breaking. "I will leave you now."

"Good!" Wendy laughed and rolled her eyes.

"No! Please." Cain frowned. "I have disappointed you. I'm sorry."

Lilith shook her head. "You haven't disappointed me. This..." She looked at Wendy who gave her the finger. "...is what I expected."

Cain watched as Lilith turned and left. Wendy giggled and tugged at Cain's belt, trying to pull him closer. "Weird bitch. Come here lover, I still got 5 minutes before I'm up."

"Shut-up" Cain cuffed the side of her head hard, knocking her out of the chair and onto the floor.

"Bastard!" Wendy stared up at him, a little blood trickling from her nose.

A moment later Cain had his engorged penis inside the girl, driving into her sex with obscene frenzy. "Lilith....ohhh fuck...Lilith..." he moaned.

=-=-=

"What are you doing there, Cain?" A soft voice asked.

Cain turned around slowly, sweating under the armload of wood he was carrying. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to say hello, see how my favorite boy was doing." The snake slithered around a tress, over roots and rocks and rose to slowly take the form of a man. Tall and dark, unblemished and smiling. "Long time no see."

"Yeah." Cain turned back around and made his way to the clearing where he would make his sacrifice to the Lord.

"Ohhh..." The man rubbed his hands together. "Looks like a fire's coming."

"I'm going to make an offering." Cain dropped the wood and stood there with his back to the man, wiping his forehead.

"I know." The voice chuckled. "I heard."

"What did you hear?" Cain turned around and looked at the man.

"I heard a faint heart never won a fair maiden." The man bent down, picking up a stick and began tracing lines in the dirt.

"What's that mean?"

The man laughed and looked at Cain. "What are you putting on your fire there?" He looked over at a calf grazing peacefully 20 yards away. "A cow?" He yawned. "Ho-hum, Cain! Ho-hum sayeth the Lord!" And he laughed again.

"Go away." Cain frowned. "You don't know anything. God hates you. Everybody hates you."

"Not true!" The man held up his stick. "But...be that as it may. Everybody loves Abel." He peered at Cain. "God loves Abel too."

Cain didn't say anything, he just sat on the stones he'd stacked for his alter.

"I've seen the girl, Cain." The man was moving around Cain in a circle, like a wolf waiting to strike. "What's her name...." He snapped his fingers. "Lilith. Yeah...Virgin Lilith. I'd pop that little cherry myself! Ughh!" He grinned, jerking his hips forward. "Little girl like that...she's begging, man. Don't tell me you ain't seen it Cain. How she comes around, sniffing like a bitch in heat..."

"No." Cain shook his head. "What would you know anyway, snake?"

"What? You think your ma was just eating fucking apples?" The man laughed and rubbed his crotch suggestively. "I know about taming bitches. Believe me Cain...I know!" He paused, then moved closer, squatting down besides Cain so he could stare into the young man's face. "And that little Lilith is feeling te need, Cain." He put his hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"Get away!" Cain shrugged it off.

"Okay. Okay!" The man sniffed. "But when it's all over, you remember me. Huh? You remember boy, when you hear Abel sighing." He chuckled, even as his form faded into the twilight. "That bitch is gonna scream, Cain. But not for you...Not for you..."

"Shutup!" Cain yelled, looking around at the emptiness.

=-=-=

Cain thought about it long and hard. Abel was favored. And not just by God, or their parents, but by Lilith too. Cain was sure of it. He'd listened to Abel speaking of her. How she'd looked, what she'd said...the way she moved and looked at him. Abel had asked Cain if he'd seen Lilith again, but he couldn't speak of it. Cain couldn't admit to his brother that she'd looked upon him with contempt, with none of the intimacy of which Abel spoke.

"What's the matter?" Abel was cleaning the table after their supper, while Cain started washing the dishes. His hands were angry and his arms jerked as he scrubbed at them.

"Nothing." Cain frowned and seemed determine to say nothing. Abel glanced at his brother's back and shrugged, only to hear Cain's voice a moment later. "I....I want her, Abel."

"Who?" Abel asked, knowing already the answer.

"Lilith." Cain rinsed a cup and dropped it into the plastic dish rack, uncaring if it broke or not. "I...She can save me." He turned suddenly, fixing Abel with his tortured eyes. "I've been wrong. About so many things, what I've done...I want to start again, Abel."

"Everybody feels like that..." Abel started, unsure of his brother's meaning.

"No!" Cain snorted and shook his head. "I mean, I spend my time with animals. I'm...becoming an animal, Abel. I can't feel it, my soul..." Cain held up his soapy hands. "When she comes to me, I can feel it again. There is hope there, a chance for me...Do you see?"

"Yes." Abel nodded. He understood exactly what Cain meant. Lilith had awoken something inside his own heart as well, but not his soul. "I understand, but it is not your soul, Cain. That is for the Lord and if it sleeps it only because you have wandered so..."

"I have not wandered!" Cain shouted. "He has abandoned me!"

"Cain..." Abel stared at his brother and opened his arms as if to embrace him. "What has happened to you?"

=-=-=-=-=-=

"Abel?" Lilith found him on the shore of Lake Washington, sitting on the cool grass. "It is almost time."

"Lilith." He didn't turn around to see her; he only bent his head down, to look at the grass between his legs. He smiled and closed his eyes. "Why do you come here?"

"Why?" Her voice was questioning. "I am...anxious." She admitted, as much to herself perhaps, as to him.

She sat down on the grass close to the young man, folding her legs gracefully beneath her. On the lake, a sailboat all white and blue drifted slowly past, and there was no one to be see on it. Some distance around them were other people, the lesser ones, walking and sitting and running. Their voices carried on the wind and it seemed a lonely sound.

"Do you like it here?" She asked Abel.

"It is a place." Abel licked his lips, still refusing to look at the woman, though he wanted to with all of his heart.

"There is a place here as well." Lilith looked at Abel, her head tilted down and her eyes lifted towards him. He turned lowly to see her. "Would you not dwell here?" She held her palms to her breast.

"What do you mean?" Abel stared at her.

"I fear for you, Abel." She lifted her chin, her eyes intent on his. "I want to leave, now, to go away from this place forever."

"But...my home? My parents, we...I mean, I want to marry you!" Abel reached out, but his hand fell short of hers, still clutched above her heart. "What do you fear?"

"Please, Abel, I love you as well. I do not wish this to be, this...contest, the competition to possess me. It is wrong, it is not God's will, Abel. I was tricked."

"Tricked?" Abel frowned.

"I have been looking for a husband, Abel, dear sweet Abel. I did not know I would love you, I thought...." She swallowed hard. "I did not know you, I only knew the need. I thirst for it, for a touch, for a kiss...For children, Abel. He promised me children and I want it so badly. We can leave! We can..."

"I don't understand, Lilith." Abel rubbed his brow slowly.

"You..." Lilith felt a tear beginning in her eye, rolling slowly down her right cheek. "You don't have to, it is wrong. It is..."

"Ahhh...Love." A man's voice settled over Lilith's words, turning them to ashes.

Abel turned his head slowly. "Begone, you are unwelcome to my sight."

"Say no more." He smiled. "I was just walking by and thought I'd say hello." His eyes were golden, bright and fluid as if made of molten metal. "The lovely Lilith, a genuine pleasure to meet you at last."

Lilith jerked at the sound of her name. "I was just...leaving." She bowed her head slightly, glancing at Abel. "I will see you...after. I hope."

"Hope springs eternal." The man shook his head. "Go on, woman. Prepare yourself for the morning, count your dowry thrice and set a penny upon the moon." He laughed as Lilith got hastily to her feet.

"No, don't go..." Abel reached up, too slowly so that his fingertips could barely graze the hem of Lilith's skirts.

"I must." She wiped at her cheek and gave Abel a last lingering look before she fled.

"What do you mean here, Beast?" Abel turned fully to the man, staring at him.

"Nothing, nothing at all." He held out his hands, which were smooth, without any of the creased lines a human demonstrates from birth. "I am an observer, Abel, nothing more. This is between you and your brother now." He smiled and the sun went cold. "She's going to him."

"My brother?" Abel stared at him.

"Ah, I say too much!" he chuckled. "Love...It will undo us all, I fear. Even Him." He looked up and shrugged apologetically. "Perhaps."

=-=-=-=-=-=

"Cain!" Lilith walked quickly into the cool neon glow of the club, looking left and right until she spied the man standing at the end of the bar. He was drinking something, holding the glass in front of him and looking down into it, as if there were something interesting hiding in it's murky depths.

"Cain..." She paused taking a breath.

"Lilith?" Can glanced around him, jerking his arm away. "Have you come to mock me once more before I lose you forever?"

"No, no...Please." Lilith brushed her hair back. "I...I want to leave. I want you to leave, now...with me."

"Leave with you?" Cain almost smiled. "And go...?" He gave a little shrug of his shoulders.

"Away." She sighed. "Anywhere, please. Just...now, we have to leave now."

"What about the offering?" Cain took a drink from his glass. "What about my brother?"

"Abel?" Lilith breathed the word and even that betrayed some small emotion in her eyes, or perhaps the way her hand moved ever so slightly.

Cain felt the liquor burning and he knew she loved his brother. "Yes." He said quietly. "Abel."

"I...I don't care about him. We'll leave, Cain. I will be your wife and we'll...go. Please!"

"And will you love me as well?" Cain looked at her. She didn't seem so strong now, so assured and confident. She was frightened and small and offering herself completely, but only herself...not everything.

"I..." Lilith looked down, her fingers fretting at the fabric bunched slightly at the hips of her dress. "I will learn, Cain. I will love you."

Cain took another drink and a deep breath after, setting his glass down carefully. "Why?" He looked at her. "You've seen me here..." He gestured around them. "You've seen what I've become. My offering will never please God." He laughed at himself. It was cruel laugh, full of self-loathing. "God will choose Abel, just as you have already done, Lilith."

"No..." Lilith shook her head. "I choose you, Cain. Right now, right here....I have chosen." She reached out to touch his hand with her fingers. "Don't you....love me?"

"Yes." Cain allowed himself a smile then...

"Cain!" Abel fairly ran across the bar, pushing heedlessly at a customer on one side, and then a waitress on the other, so that she fell heavily to the floor. "Lilith?" He stopped short as he caught sight of the woman standing so close to his brother.

Lilith sighed, closing her eyes tightly. "I am here." She said softly.

"But what are you doing here?" Abel walked closer.

"That's none of your business, bro." Cain looked at Abel.

"Stop! Please..." Lilith looked into Cain's eyes and then slowly turned to face Abel. "I was just...leaving. I...My task is through." Her voice was soft as a shadow and it fell between the two brothers like a sword.

"Come with me then." Abel held out his hand. "We'll leave this place. I swear."

"No!" Cain grabbed Lilith by the arm, jerking to him. "She's already decided to be my wife."

Abel stared at Cain and then at Lilith. "What?" He shook his head as if to clear it. "Let her go!" He took three quick steps and put an arm around Lilith, pulling the girl to him as he pushed the palm of his right hand to Cain's chest, shoving his brother back.

"No..." Lilith whispered, but the two men didn't hear her.

Can rebounded quickly, his left hand shooting out to grab Abel's shirt by the collar, jerking the smaller man up slightly on his toes, while Cain's other arm cocked back, his fingers curling into a fist. "Don't piss me off, Abel." Cain warned his brother in a low voice.

Abel jerked back, but was unable to break Cain's grip on his shirt. He pushed Lilith back out of the way, behind him, and grabbed at Cain's wrist. "Will you strike me, brother?" Abel stared into Cain's face.

"Please..." Lilith moved closer, attempting to wedge herself between the two men, but someone else pulled her back.

"Shhh..." His voice was in her ear. "It's not up to you." He told her and Lilith protested, pushing and clawing at the man, but he was far to strong, far too powerful for that.

Outside in the cool night air, he tossed Lilith away from him. She recovered her balance and stood, half bent over in the moonlight, panting and weeping softly. "You lied to me!" She accused the man. "You lied!"

"No." He spread his arms. "I told you that you would have a husband." He gave a slight curl of his lips. "And you shall."

"I know what's going to happen! I've seen it!" She took a step, but knew he wouldn't let her pass. "I've got to stop it, please...I can stop it!"

"No, you can't." The man shook his head. "No one can stop it. You've done very well, Lilith. You have no one to blame but yourself."

"No..." She shook her head. "Please, I beg you...For the love of God, don't do this."

"The love of God?" He laughed at her. "You forget yourself, girl. Now go home, prepare your things. You know what you must do, you're as bound to it as I am."

=-=-=-=-=

Cain stared down at his brother. He had put up a good fight and both of the brothers had been bloodied. Cain sat on a large rock, staring at Abel, his fingers along his nose. He would lose her, Cain thought, lose Lilith. She had offered herself and Cain did not understand why. She loved Abel, as everyone did, it was obvious. So why had she come to him, begging to be taken away. Was that a part of God's plan? A test of some sort, or just more games. There were plans and plots, and circles within circles that he'd fought to understand, but never could. His father, Adam, had spoken of these things and Abel, beautiful attentive Abel had listened.

But it was Cain now, brutish and distracted, uncertain of what he should do. He remembered Lilith's face, her hair, the swell of her breasts and the fullness of her form. How perfect among all creations, a woman. He wanted her and if he were to require love? He might have had her. Cain kicked at the ground. He would have had her now, but for love. What was that anyway, something so ill-defined, that the lacking of it caused him to hesitate? Cain had never known love and as he stared at Abel's unconscious form, Cain knew finally that subtle difference between them.

Cain stacked wood slowly, gazing over his shoulder at the fatted calf grazing lazily on the mountain grasses. It was almost noon, almost time. He licked his lips, feeling the ancient dagger at his belt, the vials and small pouch in his pockets. Cain felt his heart beating. Why had Abel come? He'd never been to that club before, never once in his life and yet last night, just as Lilith had offered herself, Abel had come inside, to spoil it. To ruin everything. God wanted it.

"God?" Cain sat down again, holding his head in his hands. "Please...Lord?" But there was no answer. The sun was high now, the sky washed of its blue by it.

Cain lit the fire slowly, using flint and a bit of dried moss. He blew gently, fanning the flames to life. The wood caught, the smaller twigs first and then the larger pieces, crackling upon the large square hearth he'd constructed, just beneath the stone alter.

"Cain?" Abel opened his eyes slowly, licking his lips. He was dry, thirsty, and his head ached, along with the rest of his body it seemed. He tried to move his hands, but found them bound with hemp behind his back. He was naked, sitting on the rough stone and the wind shifted slightly so that warm acrid smoke filled his eyes momentarily, causing them to water and he shut himself off to it until he sensed it's passing.

"Lord, I offer this unto thee." Cain spoke softly. He poured some small amount of oil over Abel's brow and poured ashes over his brother's chest, speaking more words, softly, so softly even he couldn't be sure they were being said aloud.

"Cain?" Abel repeated and then the young man sighed loudly as he felt the knife penetrating his breast, the tip slipping easily through flesh and the hardness of his bones, angling between them to find his heart. "Ahhhh...." Abel sighed loudly. He looked up, his mouth hanging open as he stared into Cain's face, dark and shadowed with the sun high above him.

Cain held the knife in his brother's body, feeling his eyes growing wet and finally running with tears. They fell heavily onto Abel's body, mixing with his blood and running to the stone beneath him. The stain grew large, spilling over the uneven edges, some of it landing in the dust at Cain's feet, and some of it rushing into the fire with a soft sizzling sound as it turned to steam.

Cain said more prayers, praising his Lord and begging his God to find his sacrifice a worthy one. Only later did Cain finally put Abel's body to the flame, letting his brother's flesh be consumed so that only bones remained, gleaming white and black and shimmering behind the veils of heat.

"I am here." Lilith spoke, disturbing Cain from his reverie. He'd been sitting silently, staring at the fire, staring at his brother.

Cain looked at her. "I have killed my brother." He held his red hands out.

"I know, husband." Lilith would not look up. “I tried to stop it. We are all dead now.”

"Do you hate me?" Cain sniffed slightly, looking away from her as well. "Is that why you joke?"

"No." Lilith struggled to right herself. "You are my husband."

"We are not married." Cain observed.

"There is none who will marry us, husband. For what you...we have done here. We are married by nature, married by deed. Take me now." Lilith had unbuttoned her dress as she spoke and she now let the material fall away from her snow white skin unceremoniously. She stood, clothed only in the afternoon sun, radiant with it as it reflected from her flesh.

Cain looked at her then, his eyes still wet and he saw the perfection of her form. The upturned swell of her breasts, topped with eager dark nipples. The inward curve of her taut belly, the plum rise of her Venus mound covered with a dark tangle of pubic hair. He felt the ache in his loins, a desire which no coupling with lesser women could slake, and he wanted her. He stepped off the rock, undressing as he moved, so that when he took Lilith in his arms, Cain's erection jutted out before him, pressing itself to her body.

“What have I done?” Cain whispered.

The wind blew softly and the sun was warm, the day was like any other. There was no answer.

"Kiss me." He commanded her softly, but Lilith was unyielding. She'd done as much as she could and her face was a mask, made of stone for all the emotion it showed him. Cain grunted, pushing her to the ground and spreading Lilith's legs. He guided his cockhead between her nether lips and pushed hard inside, feeling her dry and unresponsive. The temporary blockage of her hymen and the subsequent scream gave Cain a moment's pause...Cain thrust himself violently then, remembering the dark one's prophecy and hating him for it. He covered Lilith's rosy mouth with his, but finding nothing there but emptiness, and his desperation would not silence her.

"Ahhhh..." Lilith's body arched as the sharp lance of Cain's penetration breached her will finally. She cried out, over and over, and cold tears ran down her cheeks. "Ah, Abel...Abel…"

end
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