Page 74 of Devil Inside

“Wasn’t that from the bible?”

“See? There you are. All the wrong books, beginning with that one.”

“You’re avoiding my question,” I say.

“Are we?”

“I think so.”

“Well, we think you are asking the wrong questions. Ask us something morefun.”

“No.”

“No?”Lilith hesitates. She doesn’t like that, being told no. I can tell. Who denies a demon? Here’s a little postcoital standoff for you. The battle of wills. Good vs. Evil.

Who the hell am I kidding? I’m no angel.

“Wouldn’t that be dull? Telling the truth?”

“Gotta keep this halo somehow.”

“You hardly have a halo, Jordan...”

Ouch.I walked right into that one. Still, it stings. What does she know? About me?

I’ve already seen what’s on the other side, haven’t I? I know exactly where I’m going. I’m in no rush to get back. Am I actually going to hell?

What if I’m damned already? Is there any taking it back? Absolving myself?

Do I even want to?

“So... Are you?”

Her eyes remain on me. “Am I a demon?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes.”

“Is your name really Lilith?”

Her body shifts. I roll onto my back, facing the ceiling, as Lilith nestles just next to me. “We have so many names,” she says. “Too many to count. All in different tongues.”

“Such as?”

“Names you could never pronounce.”

“Try me.”

The name she gives drifts out from her mouth. Its intonation stings, all teeth. I’ve never heard a sound quite like it. I don’t know if I ever will again.

It’s the wind drifting through a skull. The last gasp of a dying man. A death rattle.

“How about this one?” She gives herself another name. This one makes me dizzy. The room spins a bit with her lips as she says it, the very air around her mouth distorting.

The walls hum. A million insect wings. I can feel the very vibrations in my teeth.

It’s a song. A song I’ve never heard but felt before. A song that exists in my mind, the shadows of myself, echoing throughout the darkest corners. I can’t get it out of my head.