‘Oh yes!’
‘Perhaps you should get some sleep? Wake up fresh in your own bed. You feel a little feverish, my love.’
Star nods. She turns her face upwards, towards Lilith’s and kisses her mouth. Eagerly, she strokes her pale hands across Lilith’s olive skin. Her fingers slide between the goddess’ legs.
Lilith sighs.
‘A nightcap before bed?’ Star pushes Lilith to the floor and buries her face between supple thighs. She glides her tongue between soft, generous labia, flicking the rose bud clitoris with her tongue before tasting the rich, sweet juices within.
Star’s fingers, tongue and lips explore, tease and pleasure the sex of her goddess. Lilith’s sharp, frantic cries of orgasm send shockwaves through every nerve in Star’s body. The rush of energy brings Star to climax and she shudders between Lilith’s thighs.
She nestles beside a very happy and contented goddess, kissing her shoulders and throat as her body becomes calm and her heartbeat returns to normal. Her flesh and mind relax and she finds sleep easily.
Star stands before a red lake. ‘I don’t need my pain anymore,’ she says. Kneeling at the water’s edge, she pushes two fingers into her throat and purges herself of sorrow.
Chapter 65
Star wakes and stretches the sleep from her body. She heads straight for the wardrobe and pulls a gorgeous red dress from the hanger. After slipping it on she hurries to the dining room for breakfast. Today Lilith has promised her a world tour: all the places on earth she has never seen, available for her exclusive viewing pleasure.
She is the first to arrive in the dining room. The table is clean, but not laden yet with breakfast. Star realises that she has never seen the kitchen and wonders in which direction she might find it.
She opens a doorway and steps into a room filled with light. The room is void of furniture. An open door leads to the desert. Spirits enter the room. Columns of mist fill the space, pulsing with thoughts, waiting for Lilith to mould them and send them on their way. Star wanders around the room, allowing curious spirits to touch her flesh. Their consciousness washes through her. She sees vortexes of potential in each mind she touches. Their thoughts are chaotic and limitless. They make her mind reel.
‘Star.’ Lilith’s voice cuts through the room. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I was looking for the kitchen.’
‘Violet has already prepared breakfast, darling, if you’re hungry.’
‘Are you working today?’ Star asks.
‘Not for long. I haven’t forgotten our trip.’
‘Can I watch you work?’
Lilith smiles. ‘Of course.’
Lilith stands in the middle of the room and widens her arms. A consciousness narrows itself to fit between her hands. She cups her fingers and pushes the mist inwards as though she is working with clay rather than energy. The thoughts are pushed and pulled into order until a sphere the size of a rugby ball of sparkling light hovers before the goddess’s face.
Lilith pushes her fingers into her stomach and sculpts flesh around the contained mind. From her own flesh, the goddess builds a mortal body for the spirit: a tiny form, an infant. It watches Star with sly intelligence.
Star recoils from the child’s judging eyes. Her stomach growls. ‘I’ll see you after breakfast,’ she tells Lilith and rushes out of the room.
The dining table is full of fruit and cakes. Star grabs the back of a chair. Her head swims and she feels unsteady on her feet.
‘Are you okay?’ Sapphire places a hand gently on Star’s shoulder.
Star manages to nod.
‘Here, sit down.’ Sapphire helps Star into the chair. ‘I feel the same way.’
‘Huh?’
‘Watching her work. It’s dizzying. All that energy squashed into a tiny life.’
‘Yes,’ Star answers.
‘Are you hungry?’ Sapphire asks.
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Take a bit and see.’
Star reaches for a ripe papaya.
‘I’ll prepare it for you,’ Sapphire places the sliced fruit onto a plate before Star. ‘So you are going to see the world today?’
Star chews. Juice drips down her chin. She nods.
‘What will you see?’
‘I don’t know. Wonders, perhaps?’
‘There are wonders enough here,’ Sapphire answers.
‘That’s true, but I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to see new things.’
‘Man’s folly.’ Sapphire sighs.
‘What?’
‘Always searching for the next experience.’
Star’s hand hovers above her plate. ‘You’d rather be static?’
‘I like it here.’
‘So do I, but there is so much more to know and understand. Amazing things to see.’
‘If you say so.’
‘I do. There are entire continents on which I have never set foot. I know so little of my world. I want to see its people and new places.’
Lilith steps out from her workroom. ‘Where’s Edensun?’
‘With Magenta,’ Sapphire answers.
‘Go and get him, please. It’s time we left.’
Lilith disappears through another door and comes back wearing different clothing: a dark, tailored suit that is cut perfectly to fit her body. She eats a few pieces of fruit in silence. Star watches her. Everything the woman does is graceful.
‘Ready?’ Edensun says as he walks into the room.
‘We’ve been waiting for you,’ Lilith says and places a kiss on his cheek. ‘Magenta keeping you busy?’
‘Nothing I can’t handle.’ Edensun laughs. ‘So what exciting pleasures and experiences do we have in store for Mother?’
‘I thought she might like to see the world as it really is rather than a sanitised version for tourists.’
Star shifts uncomfortably. She feels absent from the conversation. ‘Sounds good to me.’
Lilith laughs. Her laugh sends shivers down Star’s spine. It sounds cruel and hard. She wonders whether Sapphire is right. Maybe she should be content to stay here.
‘Will it be safe?’ Star asks.
‘Of course. We are simply observers,’ Lilith answers. ‘Where first?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Asia, Africa, America?’
‘Africa,’ Star answers. ‘I’ve always wanted to see lions.’
Lilith links arms with Star and Edensun. ‘You know the drill,’ she says. ‘One little step.’
They arrive in a village. The ground is cracked, baked by the white sun that dominates the sky. Strewn across the dusty street are bodies. Their limbs twisted and their skulls broken. Flies cover the carnage. In the distance, Star hears gunfire and the laughter of children.
‘What is this?’ she cries.
‘Africa,’ Lilith answers.
‘This isn’t what I meant. You know that, Lilith. Take me somewhere else,’ Star begs.
‘Do you not want to understand?’
‘No, I don’t.’
‘Very well.’
Star clings to Lilith’s arm as they step forward.
They arrive in a pig farm. The stench overwhelms Star. Thousands of pigs crowd into a tiny area and the air is filled with their screams. The noise sounds human, but the smell is animal: sweat, faeces and fear. Pigs bump into each other. Their bodies covered in blood from bites and scratches.
‘Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I know what you’re trying to do. But it won’t work. This isn’t my world,’ Star cries.
‘It is,’ Lilith answers.
‘This is the price pigs pay to feed American stomachs,’ Edensun says.
‘Is there anywhere you plan to take me that I will want to see?’ Star asks.
The three step forwards again. They arrive in a large square filled with people and colour. At the edges, stone buildings loom above them. Star is reminded of a cage full to the brim with exotic birds. Women are singing. Star does not recognise the words, but
the sound is mournful.
To the right, Star hears men’s voices raised in anger. Women scream as the crowd jostles and pushes back. Gunfire fills Star’s ears and the crowd pushes forwards again. More screaming. Colours move and blur. Everything is red then black. Star’s scream joins the fearful chorus. ‘Enough!’
‘Already?’ Lilith asks.
‘Lilith. I’m not stupid. I know the world is full of pain and suffering, but this isn’t all there is. This is cruel, Lilith. Why are you doing this?’
‘She’s not doing anything,’ Edensun answers. ‘We’re simply watching what human’s do.’
Star stamps her foot and shakes her head. ‘We don’t only destroy. We create as well.’
Lilith squeezes Star’s arm and they step forward. Before them, anchored to snow and ice, stands an oil rig.
‘You create an unsustainable need for energy,’ Lilith says.
‘This is nonsense.’ Star shakes her head.
‘This is truth,’ Lilith answers. ‘I could take you to a thousand places and in each one fear and oppression would reside. This is what you make of the life I give to you.’
‘No, we make art and music.’
‘Band aids for arterial wounds. They salve your guilt by escaping the reality that humans are evil parasites.’
‘Not all of us. And you said you didn’t care. You said people could do what they wanted. That it made no difference to you or God. That you felt nothing for our plight except amusement. What are you trying to prove, Lilith? You build me up one day with love and tenderness… then this. Do you want to make me crazy?’
‘I just want you to see,’ Lilith answers. ‘Are you better than them?’
Star nods then shakes her head. ‘No.’
‘Remember when I asked you whether your friends should survive and you let them die so your guilt at leaving me could be absolved?’ Edensun asks.
Pain tears at Star’s chest. Edensun betrays her with his words. She steps back. Her eyes darken. His cruel words echo around her mind and deep inside she knows he is right, but for a second that makes her hate him more. She pushes down her anger. This is her son. She must love him. Always, or what hope does she have? She nods. ‘There must be a reason. How do we do it? How can humans be so selfish and cruel?’
‘You forget. When you are cruel, when you cause pain or when you are hurt the energy is deflected. It is the only way you can continue,’ Edensun says.
‘The lake?’ Star asks.
Lilith and Edensun nod.
‘Take me there.’
‘To the lake of sorrows?’ Lilith asks.
‘Yes.’
‘What will you do?’ Lilith asks.
Star feels the prickle of energy spark through her limbs. Her head itches as her hair stands on end. ‘If we give humans back their pain, will they, we, behave differently?’
Lilith looks at Star askance.
‘I would imagine so,’ Edensun answers.
‘Yes, perhaps,’ Lilith says.
Star turns to face the oil rig and nods. ‘We should.’
‘What do you mean?’ Edensun asks.
‘Can we find a way of returning the waters of the lake to Earth?’ Star asks.
Lilith faces Star and grasps both her hands. Her eyes shine and reflect the icy vista.
Star stares at those cold green eyes. ‘You want to change things too, don’t you? That’s why you showed me this. Is it possible?’
‘Everything is possible. I am the god of in between. I can make a funnel between the two worlds. We can make it rain,’ Edensun says.
Lilith gasps and claps her hands. ‘Anything could happen.’
‘People might learn to be kind?’ Star says.
‘They might,’ Edensun answers. His expression is unreadable.
Chapter 66
Lilith, Star and Edensun stand under the giant, pink flag of the Langham Hotel. Silk crackles above as agitated air whips the three flags which decorate the hotel’s grand facade. Behind them sandstone glows like sunlight. In the road, synchronised amber spheres blink.
Dark clouds gather above. Lilith smiles and wonders whether Star is prepared for what they are about to unleash.
‘Ready?’ Edensun asks.
‘I think so,’ Star answers.
Star stands between the two gods. Lilith reaches for Star’s hand and squeezes.
The rain starts to fall. It is red, just as it had been in the lake of sorrows. Huge drops fall from plum and black clouds, hitting the pavement and the faces of people walking along the street.
Someone screams then another scream joins the first. A man, five feet from where Lilith watches, covers his eyes with stained hands and falls to his knees. He emits a strangled wail. His shoulders hunch over his knees. Moving his hands from his eyes, he forms two fists and begins punching himself in the face and upper body. More red liquid falls, soaking through his clothes and matting his hair. Others fall beside him. Some bend over the ground as if in Islamic prayer and hit their foreheads against paving stones until they lose consciousness. Women dig fingernails into their cheeks and tear the skin from their faces. Others use things they are carrying, bags and umbrellas to beat their backs and heads.
‘What’s happening?’ Star asks.
‘All that extra pain at once. Some of them are being driven mad with grief. They’ll become accustomed to it.’
‘But they’re supposed to use their pain to change things. They aren’t supposed to die.’
‘They won’t all die,’ Lilith assures her.
Star steps out from under the shelter.
‘Mum,’ Edensun calls after her.
‘I have to do something,’ she says.
A woman kneels beside a pram. She takes a baby from under its covers and shakes it by the arms.
Star strides towards them. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asks the woman.
The woman doesn’t answer. She lifts the baby over her head and slams it with all her strength onto the pavement before her. The baby’s head opens like an eggshell and its blood splatters Star’s shins.
Star shakes her head until the motion makes her dizzy. ‘What have you done?’
The woman does not seem to hear her. The mother’s fingers rake at her own scalp, tearing her bleached-blonde hair out in clumps, throwing them on the ground. Star stares first at the dead baby then at the distraught woman. Grabbing the woman’s arms, she tries to stop her. At last the woman’s eyes seem to focus on Star. Star pleads with her to stop her madness. The woman growls. Bearing her teeth, she bites Star’s wrist. Star screams and releases the woman who returns to scalping herself.
Waters from the lake of sorrows pour onto Malkuth soil. People run blindly as red liquid covers their faces, screaming in terror, agony and rage. Insanity reigns as people rip open their stomachs and eviscerate themselves. Bodies fall. Only a few remain standing, stronger than the rest. Survivors stare at the dead and dying, eyes wide with horror. The young fair better than the old.
‘What have we done?’ Star walks further away from Edensun and Lilith, scrambling over bodies, hugging weeping children.
Lilith approaches Star and places a hand on her trembling shoulder.
Star turns to face Lilith, her face smeared with pain and confusion. ‘This isn’t what I wanted.’
‘Shhh, child. These people are fools. Others will behave as you hoped. They will overthrow oppression.’
‘Where?’
‘Everywhere. It’s happening already. Can’t you feel it?’
Star stares at Lilith. Her lips tremble. ‘Please, take me to Parliament Square.’
The Houses of Parliament look black beyond the curtain of red rain. Lilith watches with satisfaction as crowds of people surge into the broken building. Fires burn all around them. Cars and buildings blacken in the heat. Anger fills the air and with it the potential to change things.
‘This is the change,’ Star says.
Lilith nods.
‘What do you think will happen?’ E
densun asks.
Star stands straight and proud. She gazes at the crowd, smiling. ‘The people will take back the power that was stolen from them. Each will live out their lives in the ways that are natural to them. No longer cogs in a huge machine, but people. Not merely existing, but living.’
‘You see all that in this violent mob?’ Lilith asks.
‘Yes.’
‘How?’ Edensun asks.
‘Because I saw Lilith fashion those souls and each has the potential to change everything as long as they change themselves. This violence is focused. It has a purpose. They’re overthrowing the old to bring in something new, something fairer.’
Star’s eyes gleam. Her fanaticism borders on madness. Lilith wonders whether the woman’s mind is broken from grief. The goddess looks at Edensun who frowns at his mother. His face creases with worry.
Helicopters buzz overhead like angry wasps. Missiles hit the ground. The crowd screams. Some keep pushing into the iconic building. Others scatter and run towards alternative shelter.
‘Why aren’t the soldiers affected by the rain?’ Star asks.
Lilith shrugs. ‘They probably are. Each soul has its own direction to travel.’
‘Will they win?’ Star asks.
‘The people?’ Edensun says.
‘Yes, the fucking people, will they win? Will they overthrow the exploitative system?’
‘Probably,’ Edensun says. ‘Many will fall in the process, but what do they have to lose now they see the truth?’
Lilith points towards the Houses of Parliament. ‘They are focused.’
‘So it was worth it?’ Star asks.
‘Evolution, revolution, change is always worth it,’ Lilith answers.
‘This gives you a buzz, doesn’t it?’ Star looks at Lilith then Edensun, daring them to argue.
‘Maybe you should look in the mirror, darling. I’ve never seen you look more energised.’
‘So much death.’ Star looks across Parliament Square at the charred and bloody remains.
‘Just so one regime can fall and another can rise,’ Edensun says.
‘Oh God.’ Star holds her hand over her chest.
Edensun puts his arm around her shoulders. ‘What is it?’
‘What the fuck have I done?’ Star’s body shakes.
Starblood Trilogy Page 71