Outskirts of Boston, the Magic Timeline
Racing through the abandoned buildings, the trio of vampires slammed the door behind them, desperately trying to catch their breath.
Outside the door the sounds of carnage could be heard. Shrieks of pain and terror, followed by the unmistakable sound of organic matter slapping against the wall with a wet thud.
"Lock the door!" A rather burly vampire exclaimed to a slender vampire. The slender vampire nodded, fumbling with the lock before catching it. Pressing his back against the door, he now tried to catch his breath.
"What was that thing?!" The slender vampire asked in a panic.
The burly vampire was unsure. Two months ago this group of rogues decided to settle into an abandoned building on the outskirts of Boston. After having been banished from the vampire realm, the group found others, growing their numbers to over twenty. Since then, they began hunting, picking off humans, anthros, and other supernatural beings in the surrounding area. For this group of rogues, it was proving to be a well thought out endeavor. Not only were they well fed, but they were slowly but surely growing their numbers.
That was until tonight.
The burly vampire still couldn't explain what happened. As they were about to depart for a night of hunting, the doors to their temporary home exploded. Thinking it was hunters, the group was stunned as the shadows themselves seemed to come to life, lashing put with tendrils of inky darkness that tore the others to pieces. All the vampire could see within the shadows was auburn hair that writhed like a snake and a plague mask.
"I don't know, I DON'T KNOW!" the burly vampire stammered his voice strained.
"We need to go," a female vampire said quickly, her eyes wide with terror. "Before that....THING finds us."
The burly vampire nodded, quickly scanning the room. Pointing to the windows, he now motioned to the other two to run. As they looked to run though, the door behind them exploded, the vampires shrieking in terror as a living mass of shadows slowly crept into the room.
"RUN!"
Grabbing his female companion, the burly vampire now leapt through the window, the glass exploding outwards as they crashed to the road below. Grunting in pain, the couple glanced upwards as their partner scrambled out the broken window. He seemed to be safe, as he leapt from the third story window. Instead, he found two tendrils of blackness erupt from the darkness towards his body, impaling him in mid-air. The two vampires could do little more than gasp, their partner letting out a scream of pain. For a moment they locked eyes, their slender friends eyes wide with fear before he found himself dragged inside with incredible speed. In seconds, the two survivors found themselves coated in blood and gore as the shadows tore him into a unrecognizable, mess of blood and viscera.
"You've caused enough pain and suffering." A voice echoed. The pair of vampires turning in all directions, eyes wide in fear.
"What are you?!" the female vampire shrieked. "All we've done is try to survive!"
"And hurt the innocent in the process," the shadows replied. "Orphaned children, widowed husband's and wives, caused untold suffering to countless individuals."
"We're...we're sorry," the burly vampire stammered. "Please...please were just trying to survive. Have mercy." Both of the vampires began crying holding onto each other for dear life knowing that their end would be coming for both of them soon.
For a moment, nothing happened, the pair of vampires anxiously glancing around the darkened street. Maybe they were safe, only for a tendril of inky darkness to shoot out from the darkness, wrapping itself around the female vampire's ankle. She shrieked, trying to kick the monstrosity away, only to be dragged into the shadows as she tried reaching out for her companion's arm, only for him to just barely grasp her hand.
"No!" the burly vampire exclaimed yet it was too late. Helplessly he watched as his female companion was dragged into a darkened ally, her screams echoing through the street before going silent. All the burly vampire could hear was a squelching sound before the female vampire's head rolled out of the alley, a look of horror forever etched on her lifeless face.
The vampire was now visibly shaking, his eyes watering as he was now the only one left of his friends left, his eyes darting around wildly. In less than five minutes the vampire watched perhaps 30 of his kind brutally killed. He was the only one left. Frozen in fear, he could do little more than shakily look for the entity who had inflicted such brutality. Doing something he never thought of doing before, he began to pray.
"Our father who art in heaven," The vampire said with tears in his eyes. "Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen." The burly vampire said curled up in a fetal position, now wondering when his end would come.
Immediately, he received his answer, the living shadow lurching out of the seemingly thin air as it grasped him by the throat. He could do little more than choke as he stared at the fearful plague mask blanketed in shadows. "W..what are you?!"
"Misery."
Without a second thought, Misery now used her magic to tear the vampire to pieces. After everything these vampires had done, she wished to make him suffer, to feel the pain he had inflicted on others in order to survive. These vigilante actions were all the dark wizard had left in the world. It was the only time she felt anything anymore. She had lost everything. Friends, family, all gone. In these moments of brutality, she could feel alive once more.
"Misery?"
Misery turned, questioning who could possibly call her name? As her eyes settled on the woman behind her she paused. "No," she whispered. "No, you're not real. I know you can't be real. It's...it's all in my head again."
"Misery," Lilith said softly. "It's me, Lilith. Don't you remember me?"
Misery shook her head, slowly removing the plague mask. As she did, Lilith could see what had become of the woman who was the closest thing she had ever had to a real mother.
Misery, Mary Elise, her face was haggard, her skin pale with dark circles under her eyes. Without the mask, Lilith had a clear view of the woman's auburn hair, noticing it seemed faded with a small amount of grey weaved within it. It seemed impossible that this woman who adopted her, treated her like a daughter, appeared so worn down by life.
"No, she died," Misery whispered, her body shaking slightly as her eyes darted around the ground. "She died on the beach, I drove her there, to be with Annie...scattered her ashes around Circe's Park..like she wanted..her home. The only place she thought of as home...the home they took from me...from Lilith...she's gone now. Gone..gone, gone, gone...only alone now. Alone...like always. Betrayed. No friends...no family.....only alone."
Lilith now transformed, assuming her Solar Guardian form. Misery stumbled, a choked sob escaping her lips as her eyes went wide in shock.
"Not her," Misery whimpered. "Looks like Lilith but can't be..she's gone now...gone. I failed her...she died...they blame me...I blamed me...Annie stopped me from bringing her back...Annie...she kept Lilith from me. I'm alone now...always alone."
"Misery," Lilith said more forcefully. "MOM it's me! I'm back, I came back thanks to Alyssa. What's happened to you?"
"A..Alyssa," Misery whispered, tears leaking from her eyes. "All that remained of Lilith. I could have taken care of Alyssa. I wanted to! Fear...they feared me...said I was dangerous...that I lost my mind. That it was gone...they took EVERYTHING! Hid her...all I had left. All I hoped for."
Misery seemed to focus, her eyes now resting on Lilith for a moment. Seeing Misery focus on her with weary eyes, the Solar Guardian took that moment to transform back, becoming an adult once more. Misery released a choked sob, sinking to her knees, as tears began to fall freely down her cheeks.
"Lilith?"
Lilith approached quickly, kneeling down to squeeze Misery in a tight hug. The dark wizard sobbing as she reached up, squeezing Lilith in a tight hug. "I'm here now mom," Lilith said softly. "I'm here. You don't have to be alone anymore. Now, let's go home."
Old Town, Maine the mortal timeline
Eliana paced as she periodically glanced out the window. After returning from the Bomb-Pop concert yesterday, Lilith had been strangely quiet. Saying she would be back, Eliana watched as Lilith opened a portal using a borrowed scroll from her ex-girlfriend Annie and vanishing.
That was two hours ago, Lilith wasn't even returning a text message. Eliana was growing worried. Where was Lilith?
As a portal now opened in the front yard, Eliana gasped. It was Lilith. The woman supporting another woman wearing a leather jacket, plague mask, and coated in thick blood. Quickly throwing open the door, Eliana now yelled out, drawing Lilith's attention.
"Eliana, a little help." Lilith called.
Eliana nodded, racing to Lilith's side as she shouldered the woman's weight. Helping her inside, they now set her in a chair, the masked woman mute and dazed as Eliana studied her carefully.
"Lilith," she gasped. "Is...Is that....Misery?"
"Yeah," Lilith said quickly, slowly removing the woman's mask. Eliana now gazed into the auburn woman's catatonic face. "What's wrong with her," she asked. "And what the hell is she covered in?"
"She's in shock," Lilith stated. "Found her in the other timeline. She was butchering vampires. That thing you're holding, I think it might be an ear."
Eliana grunted in disgust, dropping a fleshy piece of viscera to the floor. "Help me clean her up okay."
"Mom?"
Lilith turned, noticing both Alyssa and Rebecca peaking around the corner. The looks of abject horror on their faces spoke volumes. "Alyssa, sweetie it's okay," Lilith said quickly. "This is...an old friend of mine."
As Lilith looked to clean Misery's face, the dark wizard's hand shot up, grasping Lilith by the wrist. The action causing both Alyssa and Rebecca to jump.
"A..Alyssa," Misery stammered, the woman's haggard face slowly turning to stare at the teenage girl. "I...I remember you. Held you in my hand...so small....so precious. Your eyes! Like...your mother...wanted to care for you. They stopped me....took you from me. Alone...left alone."
"Mom?!"
"It's okay," Lilith soothed, trying to put both Misery and Alyssa at ease. "You're safe here. Both of you are."
"Wait, you want her to stay?!" Alyssa exclaimed. "Mom! Look at her?! She's crazy! You can't possibly think she won't be dangerous."
"I gotta agree with your daughter Lilith," Eliana said wiping the catatonic woman's face clean. "I don't feel comfortable with her around the girls."
"Will everyone just be quiet and LISTEN!" Lilith exclaimed. The room quieted, Eliana, Alyssa, and Rebecca wearily watching the blood soaked dark wizard.
"Growing up," Lilith began. "I bounced around foster care constantly. Never feeling accepted. Never finding a family. Misery...Mary. She changed that. Saved me from a life of ruin or worse."
Slowly Lilith now stood, her eyes narrowed as gazed at her friends while placing a comforting hand on Misery's shoulder. "She cared for me," Lilith continued. "Gave me a home. A family. She's the closest thing I've ever had to a real mother! I owe her this! I....I know if the roles were reversed, she'd do the same thing for me."
Alyssa paused, looking between her mother and the haggard, frightening woman her mother was defending. Already the teen could see her mother's eyes growing glossy with tears. Alyssa's mother was serious. While she may not know everything about her mother's past, she realized this woman meant the world to her. Cautiously, Alyssa approached, stooping down so she could stare into Misery's glossy eyes.
"H..hi grandma," she stammered nervously. "It's me....Alyssa."
Slowly, Misery now reached up, gently taking Alyssa's hand before squeezing it tightly. The woman's grasp wasn't one of viciousness, it was one of warmth. A loving hold of someone who had seemingly lost everything before miraculous finding love once more.
"A...Alyssa?"
Tears now streamed down Misery's face as she gently pulled the girl closer, pulling her into a warm embrace before sobbing silently. Despite the grossness of being covered in vampire guts, Alyssa reciprocated. Thankful to find yet another member of her extended family.