Lilith's Awakening

by Viktoria Ballavoski

  Lilith’s

  Awakening

  Viktoria Ballavoski

  iUniverse, Inc.

  Bloomington

  Lilith’s Awakening

  Copyright © 2011 by Viktoria Ballavoski

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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  Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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  Library of Congress Control Number: 2011918828

  ISBN: 978-1-4620-6181-5 (sc)

  ISBN: 978-1-4620-6182-2 (hc)

  ISBN: 978-1-4620-6183-9 (e)

  Printed in the United States of America

  iUniverse rev. date: 12/7/2011

  Contents

  Chapter 1 Ruby-Red Skies

  Chapter 2 Face-to-Face

  Chapter 3 Prayers

  Chapter 4 Carmella’s Baby

  Chapter 5 Birthdays

  Chapter 6 Grandma Nelly

  Chapter 7 Help from Babushka

  Chapter 8 Saving Mrs. Adams

  Chapter 9 Grandma Nelly Comes Home

  Chapter 10 Lilin

  Chapter 11 My Own Exorcism Experience

  Chapter 12 Twins

  Chapter 13 The Moment of Truth

  Chapter 14 Ceremony

  Chapter 15 Where Is Melisa?

  Chapter 16 In Hell

  Chapter 1

  Ruby-Red Skies

  The children were all tucked in their beds; I was set to go to bed myself. I glanced up at the sky. It was crimson, and it had me worried. Last night, I’d witnessed the sky actually turning this crimson red. Was it like the night twenty-six years ago when I gave birth to my twins? I remember my babushka used to say it meant that the demons were out looking for vengeance against the angels. I hoped the next day would be better than today. It had been a busy day. I couldn’t get over the poor young woman who came for a session today. There was something about her; as soon as she walked in, I felt the darkness following. I assumed she had come to talk to me, but she asked me to do a Turkish coffee reading instead. As I was telling her that she was being followed by a black shadow, she said anxiously, “We will meet again,” and left.

  Just as I was about to get into bed, my cell phone rang. It was Detective Michael Benson. He sometimes called me to ask for my services in his unsolved cases.

  “Viktoria,” he said, “we have a young victim here. I was wondering if you could come and see her. Maybe you can do a cold reading? I feel her presence. By the way, she has your business card in her hand, so you might know her.”

  “Sure, Michael,” I replied. “Give me ten minutes. I’ll be right there.”

  When I arrived, I found Michael right next to the victim. He always seemed to have a serious look on his face. It highlighted his worry lines, which made him seem much older than he really was. And after being in his profession for so long, he even had some gray hairs mixed in with the brown. I did sense the woman’s presence; she was still with us, watching over her body, and she was confused. The victim was the woman who had come to see me earlier that day. Her name was Gabriellele. Her large, dark-blue eyes were trying to tell me something; I just didn’t realize it at the time.

  I proceeded to the victim’s body, and just as I was about to touch her, I could hear her speaking in a low tone. “There are six hundred sixty-six of us females to one male. You have to stop Lilith and the others.”

  I turned around. “What do you mean by that?”

  She walked away from me and started to walk into the light, but she was stopped by the black shadow of a woman. It would not allow her to cross through. I was astonished at what I had seen. I could not believe my eyes.

  She answered, “I will be back.”

  ***

  That night, when I arrived home, I was still thinking about that mysterious woman. I could not get her out of my mind. I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned thinking about her for what seemed like hours before I finally fell into an uneasy sleep. As I slept, I could hear Gabriellele repeating, “You have to stop Lilith and the others.” I did not know what to make of it.

  Though I closed my eyes and managed to sleep, I knew that she was watching me, and I could still hear her. I knew it was Gabriellele. She was there with me. I could feel her sadness but also her warm feelings. I felt the desire to hold her and comfort her and tell her I would be there for her when she needed me.

  I know you are here, I spoke to her in my thoughts, wondering if she could hear me. I can sense your presence. Gabriellele, I can sense your energy. You perhaps need to talk to me? I know you are here. What are you frightened of? What have Lilith and her friends done to you? Who are these people? What do they want from you?

  I was trying hard to give her the courage to communicate with me. I knew I had to get her to trust me. The only problem was I did not know how.

  The only person who might be able to help me was my husband. He was a psychiatrist; he might have some suggestions as to how I could get her to talk to me, get her to tell me what had happened to her.

  I knew he would be upset by what I was about to do, but I needed to wake him up. I went upstairs to our bedroom.

  “Brandon, please wake up,” I said, giving him a slight shake. “I can’t sleep; we have to talk.”

  “You mean right now?” he asked with a moan. “Can we talk about it at breakfast tomorrow?”

  “No, right now,” I insisted.

  “You’ve never talked about your cases before. Why now? It’s the middle of the night.”

  “This one is different from the others. This woman came for a reading today. A few hours after she left, I got a call from that detective, Michael. He asked me to meet him at a crime scene. The victim was the same woman! She is here constantly whispering to me, ‘Protect them.’ I don’t know who they are! I don’t know where they are! However, she wants me to protect these people.”

  “Viktoria, try to sleep on it. You’ve had a long and exhausting day. Maybe you’ll be able to communicate with her tomorrow when you have a clearer mind. You might feel better.”

  “You’re probably right,” I said with a sigh. “I am worn-out, and I might be overreacting. Good night, honey.”

  ***

  I woke up the next morning to the smell of brewing coffee. I went to the kitchen to find that Melisa had already left and Lacey and Cameron were set to go to school. Lacey happened to look just like me, except she had her father’s blue eyes and blond hair; Cameron and Melisa had my brown hair a
nd green eyes.

  “I did not forget, Viktoria,” Brandon said as he poured coffee into a travel mug. “We will discuss your situation as soon as I get back from dropping the kids off at school, okay?”

  I nodded and gave my kids each a kiss on the cheek as they grabbed their stuff and walked out the door. As soon as they were gone, the phone rang. It was Michael.

  “Good morning, Michael. You’re up early. You’re already at work?”

  “Yes, I am. I just called you to tell you about Gabriellele’s autopsy results.”

  “How did you get the results so fast?” I asked as I sat down at the kitchen table, my hot coffee steaming in a mug in front of me.

  “The forensics team was so eager that they stayed up all night to determine Gabriellele’s cause of death. And they said it was the most uncommon case they had ever seen.”

  “Tell me,” I urged.

  “Well, Gabriellele’s death was caused by a massive heart attack. Her heart was seriously damaged.”

  “What’s uncommon about a heart attack?”

  “Nothing, but, Viktoria, when the medical examiner did the autopsy on the victim, they noticed something that did not make sense. I have never heard of or seen anything like this.”

  “What was it, Michael?”

  “There was not a drop of blood left in the body. Her heart had been torn up somehow, but there were no signs of any bleeding anywhere else.”

  “How can that be?” I asked, not believing what I was hearing. “How could that happen, Michael?”

  “I don’t understand it; I don’t know how that could have happened, Viktoria, but we need to find out.”

  “Okay, I’ll stop by your office later and try to see what has happened. I’ll be in the office in forty minutes. I need to stop by the morgue first.”

  As I finished talking to the detective, Brandon walked in and said, “I do apologize that we could not discuss this last night. I was too tired to do anything but sleep. But now I’m ready to talk. What were you saying about the victim?” he asked as he pulled out a chair and sat down.

  “Last night, Michael called me and asked me to do a cold reading on a victim. When I got there, I discovered that the victim was the same lady who’d come for a reading earlier in the day. Her soul was still there, watching over her body. Speculating and scared, she kept saying, ‘You have to rescue them from Lilith.’ Gabriellele wants to talk to me, but she is frightened.”

  “Who is Gabriellele?” he asked, confused.

  “Gabriellele is the name of the victim. She kept speaking of six hundred sixty-seven of them and said that I am obligated to protect them from Lilith. I cannot figure it out. Then she said six hundred sixty-six females and one male. What have I got to do with her death?”

  “If you’re asking me for advice on how to deal with it, I think you should not get involved in this. You’re just looking for trouble. The sound of six hundred sixty-six females and one male and this Lilith freaks me out. I have to go now, Viktoria, but if I were you, I would rethink getting involved in this.”

  “I had better get ready and go; I still need to go see Michael after the morgue.”

  I felt Gabriellele’s presence again. Gabriellele, I thought, I don’t know what you’re trying to say, what you were involved in. This is a cult, and the leader’s name is Lilith? And you want us to save the rest of them from her? Is that it? Is that why you came to see me yesterday? Well, if you don’t communicate with me, I can’t do much for the others. You know that I’m right. Well, I’m coming over to see you at the morgue. Perhaps you will decide to show yourself to me over there.

  I thought about what Michael had said about the autopsy; the victim’s body did not contain a drop of a blood. How could that happen? She had not been shot or stabbed. How did she lose all her blood?

  As soon as I got into my car, I noticed my babushka sitting there. “I see you are going to join me to see the victim,” I said to my father.

  “No, Viktoria, I am here to tell you that you are being watched by jinn. You have to be more cautious; a jinn can form itself into anything. The only way to find out if it’s a jinn is by looking into its eyes. The eyes are all black, and the iris is red. Do not look into his or her eyes deeply or show your fears. We are here, remember. I want you to be more cautious when you get to the morgue.”

  “I am not alone,” I said. “I am accompanied by a dark shadow every single step I take.”

  Later, as I went down the stairs to the morgue, I could feel someone pressing against me, trying to stop me from going any farther. This sensation chilled me to my bones actually. As I got closer, I could smell it, and I became even more frightened; something about the door bothered me. It was open as I was about to walk in, but the doorstop fell away, and the door slammed shut in my face. I could hear the echo thundering up the stairs. Clearly, I thought, you should not be here.

  I knew someone or something was trying to scare me, but I was going to do what I needed to. I said to whatever it was, “You will not frighten or stop me.” As I was about to walk in, it warned me again not to go any closer to Gabriellele.

  “Oh, my lord! Are you all right?” asked Dr. James, Stainfield the medical examiner. “How did that door slam on you the way it did? The doorstopper fell; did you see that?”

  “Yes, I did, and I am okay. I’m just fine. My name is Viktoria Nelson. I’m the medium for this case.”

  “Yes, I know, Michael told me you would be stopping by. I just finished wrapping up. Gabriellele was the most popular victim today. She was accompanied by a few priests, who carried out an unusual exorcism over here.”

  “Why would they do it over here? Couldn’t they take her to the church and do it there?”

  “One of the priests mentioned something about an evil soul. I was not such a big believer, but after what I saw, I do respect her family’s request for it before they take her to the funeral home.”

  “What did you see, Dr. James?”

  “You should have been here and seen it with your own eyes. It was an incredible thing that happened. Something black and thick came out of her mouth! It was unbelievable! I thought I was watching a scary movie. Then the priest baptized her by spraying her with some holy water. It was an exciting and interesting day for Gabriellele and me.”

  “That would make sense,” I said, referring to the holy water. “Otherwise, they would not be able to take her inside the church.”

  “Furthermore, there was a woman who came by as well. There was something about that woman. She waited outside while the priests did the exorcism. Soon after they left, she kept coming to look at Gabriellele but from far away and with hate in her eyes, I dare say. When I asked her for her name, she said it was Lily. I asked her if she was related to the victim. She just looked at me with her deep black eyes, but her pupils were red! She did not say anything else.” After a moment of silence, he continued, “You have a few minutes before they pick her up.”

  “Okay. I won’t be long. Thanks.”

  I approached the body. It did not look like Gabriellele’s. This was a totally different body. I was stunned.

  “Dr. James!” I called out to him, keeping my eyes on the body. “Is this Gabriellele’s body?”

  “Yes, Viktoria. This is the only body brought in last night. Her name is on the tag.”

  “That might be, but this does not look like the woman who came to my house and whom I saw at the crime scene. This body looks older and has burn spots.”

  “It’s the holy water. It burns, the priest said. I asked him the same question.”

  “I know there is something you have to tell me, Gabriellele,” I whispered to the body. “Please, let’s talk about it. What I am seeing now does not make any sense. I do not recognize this body, Gabriellele. I am over here to help you. Who are the rest of the six hundred sixty-six of them? How can I help them?”

>   I could hear her saying repeatedly, “They need to be saved from Lilith and the others.” She then said, “Please go away from here! Now you are in danger! Go now! I will find you. We will talk about it later.”

  “Okay. Gabriellele, I’m leaving, but I will be waiting for your signs. Together, we will save them from whatever it is.”

  “Viktoria,” Dr. James said, as he moved closer to me, “are you done? The family’s here to take her.”

  “Yes, I’m finished. Thanks. See you later, Dr. James.”

  Gabriellele was their only child; I felt for the family. I offered my condolences to them. I didn’t know what I would do if I were in their situation. I did not even want to imagine it. My prayers were with the family. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.

  By this time, I just wanted to go home, hug my kids, tell them how much I loved them, and ask God to bless them. I thanked God with every breath they took and hoped that he might watch over them.

  Gabriellele’s family did not want to give her a big funeral, and they wanted to bury her the same day.

  A few hours later, I went to the funeral to pay my respects. I was hoping to see Gabriellele lying in the open casket. I approached the coffin carefully and looked at her. What I saw did not look like her. They had her dressed up so an angel could not take his eyes off of her, but she still did not look like the lady who had come to my house for a reading and whose body I later saw at the crime scene. There were additional burn spots on her. Even though the makeup artist tried to cover them up, I could still see them.

  I needed to talk to Michael. He might have seen her before the priest sprinkled holy water on her. I walked away in shock. How could this happen? I just could not wait to find out. As soon as I found an opportunity, I sat down next to Gabriellele’s mother, wondering what sort of explanation I would get. Unfortunately, I felt the sorrow and could not, in good conscience, ask her any questions.