With a groan, you slip out of your velvet sheets and head to the door. For a moment, you reconsider your choice, but turn the knob and step into the dark hallway. The only light comes from the moon leaking in through closed windows, and you look around, listening for the voice.


"Kit..."


You catch a glimpse of a white figure down the hall, but it disappears before you can get a good look. Picking up the pace, you follow after it. The voice continues to call out to you, growing louder as you descend deeper into your manor.


"I need to see you, Kit..."


You continue to follow the voice until you reach the manor's wine cellar. When you open the door, you're greeted by a woman in white. Her brown hair falls past her shoulders and brushes against her hips. Her white dress flows freely, and around her neck she wears a holy symbol of Judeau, God of Life. Her skin is deathly pale and her green eyes bear holes into your own grey orbs. You know that face anywhere. It hasn't aged a day in twenty years.


"Lilith..."


For a moment fear grips you. You saw her die, that poison dart pierced her throat and she was done for. She was so out of breath she couldn't speak her incantations and heal herself. Yet still, she's standing here before you now, a specter of the past. "I thought you died," you say because you still can't believe she's here.


A smile graces her lips. "I did."


"You... You're dead. You're not real. I'm losing my mind..."


"I'm very real, Kit. Myself and the others have been watching over you, ever since that day. We thought you could pull yourself out of this..." She shakes her head, disapprovingly. "We thought you were better than this, Kit."


Despite the circumstances, you let out a dark chuckle. God, you need a drink. "Better than what? I didn't have much incentive to live after you all died. I didn't even want to go on that fucking adventure. It was Grace who roped us all into it."


"Yet you still went. Why was that?"


Great, now she's interrogating you. You really want that drink... "She was... You were all my friends. I wanted to..."


"Wanted to what, Kit?"


"I wanted to... DAMMIT!" You can't help it. You head to one of the shelved bottles, reaching for it.


"Don't."


Despite Lilith's warning, you grab hold of it, when a sudden burst of wind knocks you back. You crash against another shelf of wine bottles, shattering them from the sheer force of your impact. "W-what the Hell was that for!?"


"I don't want to talk to some drunkard, Kit. I want to talk to you."


Your anger flares. "Go back to whatever fuckin' afterlife you crawled out of! I don't want whatever you're selling me!" You pull yourself up and walk to the door.


"Kit. Listen to me."


You place a hand on the doorknob...

You ... And swing the door open in a huff, leaving the room.

You reach for the door and open it. Lilith calls out to you, anger evident in her voice as she says, "I thought you were better than this, Kit!"


You don't deign her with a response, or at least not one she can hear. Despite yourself, you find yourself muttering, "so did I" under your breath. A moment passes, and when you turn to see if she's still there, you find she's gone. A sigh escapes your lips as you walk to the door and ascend the stairs, back up to your room. Once there, you collapse into bed and fall into a fitful sleep.


In the morning Bertrand comes with your bread and wine. You take it, send him out of the room, and spend the rest of the day eating and drinking as you always have. The next day, Bertrand comes in the morning with the bread and wine, which you take and spend the rest of the day eating and drinking. It continues on for weeks without interruption, until one day, something changes.


You wake in the early morning hours to a yell. Your head is pounding and your stomach is killing you, but you push through and get out of bed. Stumbling out of your room, you see a man slumped against the wall: Bertrand. "Bertrand!" you shout, running to him. As you get closer, however, you notice the blood trailing down his neck. It flows freely from a fierce red slash across his throat. Bertrand is dead.


You look around, wondering who in the hell did this to your servant, when you feel a sharp pain in your arm. Looking, you find that a crossbow bolt has embedded itself into your bicep. "W-what the hell!?" you choke out. Another bolt flies true, hitting your thigh and causing you to fall to a kneel. Footsteps approach from your left, and you turn your head to look. What you see is a man, dressed in black. He approaches you, pulling out a dagger.


"Who are you?" you ask.


He simply sticks the dagger to your throat and cuts. As you fall to the ground, vision darkening and lungs filling with blood, he speaks: "The king sends his regards."


Then, all is silent.


THE END