The band played the intro as the
commercial break ended. The audience applauded as Jonah Donahey took center
stage, bowing several times with his hands pressed together as if in prayer. He
smiled, and bobbed his head, his manicured hair moving not an inch.
“Coming up next, we’ve got one of the world’s
biggest musical sensations, whose new album ‘The Lovers,’ has broken all the
charts. Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s put it together for three time Grammy
winner, Lilith!”
The crowd roared as the stage darkened. A
musical sting filled the studio. A pair of manicured hands seemed to pour from
the front of the stage, gesturing as the pop star rose like a mist through the
floor boards, resplendent in a pale pink jacket and matching skirt, her blond
hair framing her almost childish face.
“Do not be afraid,” she said, “Our fate cannot
be taken away from us. It is a gift.”
The music of the band swelled as lights rose
behind her.
“Turning, turning in the widening spiral,” she
began crooning, the crowd roaring with approval, “The Prince cannot hear the Court
. . .” The background dancers in their bodysuits began to crawl from the wings.
Lights spun about as the bridge dropped, Lilith
barely moving as the cries of the audience threatened to overtake her amplified
voice. She caught the eye of an audience member and winked mischievously.
“Desire hurts but sin is worse,” she breathed as
the lights went out.
“We’ll be right back!” Jonah Donahey shouted
over the din as they went to commercial.
During the break, an aide ushered Lilith over to
the couch by Donahey’s big desk, gesturing for her to sit. She did so.
“Hi, I’m Lilith,” she said, flashing her
enigmatic smile.
“I know,” the aide responded automatically. “Stay
on the left side of the couch, okay?”
“Okay,” she responded.
“Hey,” Donahey whispered away from his own mic,
“Great set. Great. You mind if we get into some personal stuff?”
“I’m,” she began to say, shaking her head, her
hair turning from platinum blonde to raven dark. “No, that’s fine.”
“Can you do that again, on camera?”
“Do what?”
“Your,” Donahey pulled away as the lights
swelled. “And we’re back! Once again, we’re talking with the star who’s hit
single ‘Original’ has been on the top of the charts for three months, Lilith .
. . I have to say, it’s great to have you on the show.”
“Thanks, Jonah,” she said without any
inflection, “It’s good to be here.”
The crowd laughed, as if at a secret joke.
“Now, Lilith,” Jonah began, “You’ve been in the
news recently.”
“Have I?”
Another laugh. Donahey mugged for the camera.
“Word has it that you’ve been seen out and about
with a certain star whose name I won’t mention, except perhaps to say that his
last name is Cooper,” The crowd made a noise that sounded like a bird to her.
“Is there any truth to the rumors? Are you two an item?”
“What
does it mean to be an item?” Lilith asked. “Maybe I should check my phone.” The
crowd reacted. Donahey snickered.
“Are you two seeing each other, I mean.”
“I see many things,” Lilith responded, brushing
down her skirt with an extra hand that jutted oddly from her wrist before
disappearing. The audience let out an audible gasp. “I think he sees me. Or
maybe another me. It’s hard to remember.”
“So, lots of late nights, then?”
“Some nights he’s perfectly on time.” Another
big laugh.
“So, no complaints in the romance department I
take it?”
“Love is a beginning and an ending,” she
replied, taking a moment to realize she was quoting one of her own songs.
Donahey nodded at her.
“So,” he went on, “You’re between big projects
right now, but I understand you’re the new face of . . . What is it again?”
She turned to the audience,
producing a jar of pale cosmetic from thin air as she put on her odd smile.
“(Im)mortal,” she said, holding up the jar so
that the logo could be clearly seen, “You might be mortal, but you don’t have
to look that way.”
The studio audience clapped. The jar
in her hand disappeared as camera one switched to camera two. Her outfit
deepened too in color, turning almost indigo.
“And do you actually use it
yourself?” Donahey asked.
“Every day,” she answered, “You
don’t need glamour when you’ve got- You’ve got-”
She shook her head again, and her
lipstick turned to match her jacket. She looked over at Donahey and blinked.
“Hi, I’m Lilith.”
“Yes, you are,” Donahey replied. The
crowd guffawed. He turned to the audience, swiveling in his chair. “Hey, we’ll
be right back! We’ve got the world’s biggest hot dog eater coming up, and one
of TV’s hottest comedians, Mr. Richard Touchstone, all after the break! See you
then!”
* * * * * *
*
“She’s repeating herself again,”
Sonnelion said, replaying the interview while reaching out towards the screen,
each wave of awe and laughter washing over him like a warm tide.
“They didn’t notice,” Michael said,
wrinkling his nose, “Do you have to do that now?”
“It’s second hand, but it’s still
pretty fresh.”
“So,” Michael said, “Only a matter
of time, I guess. How long do you give her?”
Sonnelion looked away from the
television to stare at Lilith, who was looking at her own reflection in the
mirror before, and perhaps also the reflection of her reflection on the walls
behind her.
“Oof,” Sonnelion huffed. “A month?
We’ve got the tour coming up. I don’t know if we-”
“Who am I?” Lilith asked, turning
her gaze towards Michael.
“You’re a superstar,” Michael said,
walking up behind her and massaging her shoulders, which seemed to bend beneath
his touch. He tried not to recoil. “You’re the biggest thing since sliced
bread. You’re Lilith.”
She nodded. “I’m Lilith. Do you like
to fall asleep to music?”
“I like to be exclusive,” Michael
replied, grinning sadly. “You keep just being you, okay doll?”
She squinted at herself. “But- I’m .
. . Am I okay?”
Sonnelion moved across the dressing
room and extended his palm towards her. “You’re not just okay, you’re
extraordinary. You’re Lilith. No one can take that away from you.”
Motes of multicolored light moved
between the two for a moment. She seemed to settle somewhat in her chair.
“And no one tells me what to do,” she said.
“That’s right,” Sonnelion said,
wheezing. “This is a big month. You’ve got to be ferocious.”
“I am Lilith, hear me roar,” she
said, with some verve. Michael looked over at Sonnelion and nodded.
“We should be good,” Sonnelion said,
and turned his attention back to the screen, rewinding to absorb the bigger
reactions.
* * * * * *
*
The arena sung along in tandem as Lilith floated
above the stage, six different copies of her mimicking her every action as she
seemed to dance upon thin air, blue fire playing behind her as the song rose to
its crescendo. She sang the last lines of ‘Original’ repetitively, her voice
doubling and doubling, and then the flames burst into fireworks as she spun
upwards, belting out the final chorus. The lights came down somewhat. The
performance was over.
“Thank you,” she said as she
regained proper footwork, the lights focusing on her as her doubles slowly faded
into her. “Time is short! Your heart was made to be broken and be remade!
Goodnight!”
As per usual, there were so many
people stuffed into the hallway backstage that she had to depend on her
bodyguards to clear a path.
“Lilith!” A microphone was being
shoved at her. “Lilith, are the rumors true about Monte Carlo? Are you having
an affair?”
“Get back,” one of her bodyguards
said, shoving the bespectacled paparazzi aside.
“There’s no future if you forget the
past,” Lilith said. “Unless you get enough likes on instagram.”
Some of the fans tittered, delighted
to have the opportunity hear her speak in person. She made a triangle out of
her hands and placed it over her left eye, winking. The fans pressed against
her entourage, arms outstretched.
“Lil,” a voice called out as she was
muscled through the throng, “Lil, it’s me- It’s Tyler!”
She stopped and turned, finding
herself confronted by a sandy haired man with dark circles under his eyes. One
of her bodyguards put out his hand and easily shoved him backwards.
“Lil, I’ve been trying to-” The man
wrestled with the bodyguard ineffectually for a moment. “Lil, I never heard
back from you! I’m sorry if I- Dammit, get off of me! I’m sorry! Lil! I miss
you!”
Lilith froze for a moment, shook her
head, her locks growing two feet and curling somewhat to the delight of the
hallway.
“Hi, I’m Lilith,” she said, blew a
faux kiss and moved on.
“Who was that?” she asked when she
had returned to her dressing room, her dress turning from sequins to snake
skin, the cold scales sweeping down over her legs.
“By Lucifer, that scumbag reporter,”
Sonnelion spat. “I don’t know how he got in here. It won’t happen again,
alright doll?”
“No,” Lilith said. "There was a man .
. . He had shadows under his eyes. He- I think he knew me.”
“He- He was probably just some fan,”
Michael said, unscrewing one of the two dozen water bottles in the room, “Don’t
worry about it, okay?”
“But maybe he did know me . . . I
mean, who am I?”
“Ugh,” Sonnelion said. “I thought
we’d have more time.”
“Wait, Michael said, waving his
hand. “Let me- Lilith, doll, you know you’re going to be in Sydney next week.
You’re the headliner. Sold out show. Do you remember?”
“You cannot serve God and Mammon,”
she said, nodding slightly, the recollection of the lyrics of ‘Two Masters’
filling her head.
“Right,” Michael said. “Two more
shows and then you’ll- You’ll go on vacation, or to a
meditation retreat. Whatever you want.”
“In every job that must be done . .
.” Lilith paused.
“That’s copyrighted,” Sonnelion
said, tugging up one of his sleeves. “I think we should just wipe her-“
Lilith snapped her index finger
against her thumb. Sonnelion flew back against one of the dressing room
mirrors, shattering it.
“The job’s a game,” Lilith said,
looking at her reflection in the jagged pieces of glass. Each one reflected
her. Sonnelion groaned as he picked himself up, black ichor oozing out of his
numerous wounds.
“Right,” Michael said, backing away.
“It’s just- You’re-“
“But that’s going a bit too far,
don’t you think?”
“Uh,” Michael breathed, searching.
“Uh, indubitably.”
Lilith gleamed, her smile actually
shining with a glint of light. A black hat appeared above her head, spinning
slightly before settling atop her brow.
“Sonny needs a bit of,” Michael
started to pick Sonnelion up. “He’s tired. Needs some, uh, rest.”
“I’m,” she struggled to form the
words. “I’m hungry. Is there a- Is there a Jack in the Box near here?”
“She’s not supposed to eat,”
Sonnelion said, spitting out a black gout of blood. “Ever! Even in a
commercial!”
“Shut up,” Michael said, “She’s-”
“Practically perfect in every way,”
she said, her nose becoming more button-like.
“Yes,” Micahael said, half carrying
Sonnelion out of the door. “You get some rest yourself, doll, alright? Big days
ahead. I’ll send out for some food.”
“That’s a piecrust promise,” she
said, “Easily . . .”
As the door shut, she found she
couldn’t finish the sentence. When the
food came, a burger with fries and ketchup, she tried to bite into it, but it
tasted like nothing. She took another bite. She looked down. There were no
teeth marks on the bun.
“Why it’s the most disgraceful sight
I’ve ever seen or . . . My name isn’t . . . My name isn’t . . .”
She looked back at the shards of
glass from the mirrors. Sonnelion’s blood was misting into the air like smoke.
Several dozen faces, all her own, stared back at her.
She shook her head, her hair
shortening considerably as it became fiery and swept to one side, her body
shrinking ever so slightly as her snake-skin dress became an off the shoulder
affair of Prussian blue.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m Lilith.”
* * * * * *
*
“The continuing allegations of
sorcery continue to swirl around two time gold medal winning Olympic figure
skater Feng Mian,” the talking head on the television intoned, “Mian has most
notably dropped out of the upcoming Winter Olympics, a move that rocked the international circuit.
Nian Zhen, Mian’s trainer continues to deny any collusion with magical
enhancement in the skater’s performance . . .”
The broadcaster turned slightly,
glancing ever so briefly at the off screen teleprompter.
“In other news, musical superstar Lilith has
cancelled the final concert of her Benediction Tour, only one day before its
scheduled Tokyo finale. Lilith’s manager, Michael Saint James, has cited
exhaustion as the primary-”
Sonnelion snapped his fingers at the television,
but it kept playing. Huffily, he picked up the remote and shut it off.
“How are we going to recover from this?” he
asked. “I need more inspiration if we’re going to move on.”
“Maybe we change her career,” Michael said,
making himself a vodka gimlet in the kitchenette. “Just for awhile. Do
something different. She could be in one those live television musicals-”
“Go Disney?” Sonnelion turned around rubbing at
his neck. His wounds were still raw. “She’s the face of Infernal Chic, and you
want her to play Cinderella?”
“Maybe,” Michael said, “Maybe we could get
Taymor to-”
“This one is done,” Sonnelion said, cutting
Michael off, “End of story. I just need to . . .”
Sonnelion kept his mouth shut as Lilith
half-oozed out of the corner of the apartment, her form jerking slightly as she
sank to the floor. One of her arms wasn’t right, twisted backwards. Her hands
too were transposed, the palms on the wrong sides.
“Hi, I’m . . .” She looked unsure.
“Hey, doll,” Michael said, “You feeling any
better?”
“Did you know that people really like dogs?”
Lilith said, reverting to her inflectionless speech pattern. Her arm twisted
around to its proper place. “Do you know what a dog is?”
“Yeah,” Michael said. “I’ve, uh, I had a dog, I
mean, my parents did, when I was a kid.”
“What’s a kid?” she asked. “Were you a goat
once?”
Sonnelion couldn’t help but snicker. “Hey, doll,
Michael and I had an idea. We thought maybe you’d like to watch something fun.”
“Sonny,” Michael said, pressing around the
counter. “Maybe we don’t have to- I mean, she seems-”
“I like fun,” Lilith said, not aware that she had
suddenly appeared next to Sonnelion. Her double in the corner began to sink
into the floor, singing out a quiet note of distress as she faded from
existence.
“I know you like fun,” Sonnelion said. “I made you
that way.”
“I don’t,” she shook one of her hands, righting
it, but her dress began to go translucent. “You. I don’t understand. Am I . .
.”
Sonnelion put up his palm, gently. “Just let me
put this on, okay? I know you’ll like it.”
He picked up the remote and navigated to
Youtube.
“The internet is tubes,” she said. “And weird.”
“Yes,” Sonnelion said, navigating the search
function.
“Lilith at the Grammy’s,” she said, staring at
the video’s title as it began to play. On screen, a beautiful young woman was sitting
atop a golden throne, a man and woman chained to it, both of them covered in
glittering silver paint. Ominous flames roared in the background. A pentagram
floated above the seated figures head. An unseen audience began to scream.
“Do not hope to see Heaven,” the woman said,
darkly, her black hair twisting like serpents across the throne and against the
backs of the near-nude couple chained to it. “Come with me, across the dark
shore, into fire and ice.”
“She’s . . . Perfect,” Lilith said. “In every way.
Who is she?”
Sonnelion did not answer as the opening of
‘Inferno’ began to blare. Winged eyes began to descend, starring directly at
the screen, and by extension, its viewers. A crescent appeared beside the
pentagram. Feathered wings began to sprout from the woman’s back as she slowly
rose, the crowd roaring even louder, so loud that the opening lyrics of the
song could barely be heard.
Sonnelion reached out towards the
screen and closed his eyes.
“Who is she?” Lilith asked again.
“She’s,” Michael said, looking away. “She’s
Lilith.”
“But I’m,” she said, blinking. “I’m- I’m. I
mean, Aren’t I-”
“You’re no one,” Sonnelion said, softly. “You’re
a . . . figment of my . . .” He tried to finish his sentence, but the word he
tried to mouth was slurred beyond comprehension. The crowd began to cheer as
the dance break began.
“You’re . . .” Michael began to reach out to
touch her, but stopped. “You’re a dream. A superstar. You’re not real. I’m
sorry.”
“But I’m-”
Sonnelion turned and snapped his fingers towards
her.
* * * * * *
*
“Our next guest,” Helen Crosier said, looking
smart in her pantsuit as she addressed the audience, “Has been through a tough
year: A cancelled tour, a breakup, a five month retreat to Hawaii . . . But
she’s here today, and is going to be performing the debut song off of her next
album, ‘Tenebrae,’ Ladies and Gentlemen let’s welcome back to the stage the
world’s biggest pop star: Lilith!”
The studio went entirely dark as a huge, pale,
impossibly gorgeous face appeared before the crowd, her black makeup running
down from both eyes and lips, her hair fantastically white.
“Hi,” she said, “I’m Lilith.”
