CHAPTER#106

"No." Lily looked back out the window. "He did one experiment with a room full of Jews. Just one. It was so disgusting that even the Nazis decided it was too much, that he was too much of a risk."

"Wow, seriously?"

"Yes. For him, it's not about morals. It's about seeing what people will do, experimenting with what makes us human. While you may begrudge your current state, remember that there's a chance we can fix it and you will walk away intact." Lily grimaced. "One time he got drunk at a bar and told a story about how he stitched a bunch of people together, ass to mouth, just to see what would happen. He did this in earshot of some guy who found a way to make a movie out of it, and Daryl absolutely loved the attention. He would brag about how he was one of the few Society members who did something that got made into a movie."

"That's awful."

"It's perspective. If he wanted, he could walk into any hospital and save the lives of everyone in there. But he won't, because that won't teach him anything. The human body and its life force are just like Lego blocks to him." She sighed. "If not for his ability to undo bodily harm, his proclivities would be seen as a threat by the others in the Society."

"They aren't worried he could turn on them?"

Lily laughed. "The Society may be scum, but they hold fast to a few simple rules. First and foremost, Society members may never attempt to harm another member. If they do so, than they are to be immediately destroyed. The second rule is that members must offer their gifts freely to one another, assuming there is no heavy cost, magical or otherwise. If he refused to help, they would find another necromancer who specializes in healing, which would be hard to find."

"But couldn't he just do to them what he did to me? Like, one at a time or something?"

"No. If he even attempted something like that, my former master would come for him."

"Your former master?"

"That is a story for probably never." Lily shivered, then turned her body away from the window. "I don't like talking about him. It's like splashing the edge of a pond with a crocodile underneath. If you make too many ripples, he'll leap out and snap you up in his jaws."

"Then he is the leader of the Society? What do they even want with this place?"

"In terms of leadership, the Society acts more like a boardroom than a dictatorship. However, he controls so many shares that they defer to him. However, they typically defer to his wisdom. He is one of the founding members, and not to be trifled with."

"Is that why you know so much about them? Have you been with them this whole time?"

Lily laughed without humor. "Yes I have. They made me do things I don't wish to discuss. For them, keeping to the shadows is of the utmost importance. They monitor the world like a shadow organization, waiting to accrue any sort of magical power. Whereas the actual shadow government that runs things does so for power and authority, magic is above both of these. I remember when magic used to be commonplace, a skill that could be paid for like that of a plumber or an electrician. Over the years, magic has died out almost completely, and one of the main reasons is people like the Society. They harvest and keep it like gold, locking it away for their private use. Much like myself. They would let me out to feed on selected targets, people who would pass away in the night from a heart attack, their souls sucked from their bodies. Centuries of doing someone else's dirty work and reaping no rewards of my own. Do you know how lonely it gets, stuck inside of a gemstone prison?."

"You sucked out souls?" Dana's eyes were wide. "What happened to them?"

"They're in here." Lily tapped her heart. "Damned for all eternity. I'm a demon, a creature of chaos. I feed off of them until they are withered up, forced to do my bidding in the Dreamscape."

"Why don't you let them go?"

Lily's mouth opened, but no sound came out. She looked down at the floor, deep in thought for several moments before answering. "If I do, I die. And then I end up in the same boat as you. Allowed to crossover and go straight to Hell."

"But you're a demon. Didn't you come from Hell?"

Lily kept her eyes on the floor, her lower lip trembling. "I wasn't born a demon."

"Then you were born... human?"

Lily nodded. "Your fate and mine are very similar in many ways. I was once mortal, and made a choice out of naivete that has haunted me to this day. Yes, I am a demon, and I have done wicked things. But the nature of eternity is that we often live to regret the things we have or haven't done."

"So you are like me. Trapped." Dana shook her head. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't feel sorry for me!" Lily's wings sprang from her back, flapping momentarily before vanishing. Dana took a step back, and Lily's face immediately softened. "Shit. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I don't want your pity. That's what I meant to say."

"Well, you can have it anyway." Dana moved closer to the succubus, sitting on the desk next to her. "It looks like we both got served a shit sandwich. You've just eaten way more of yours than I have."

"Ugh. Disgusting." A smirk crossed Lily's face. "A shit sandwich. Indeed. With the crusts still on it and everything."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad you're mad. So many of my emotions are just... numb. I'm mad at Daryl for what he did, but I should be far angrier. It makes me happy, kind of, that you can do all the hating for me." Dana moved her hand on top of Lily's and gave it a squeeze. "Speaking of, you told me I should find you if I was feeling particularly murderous. I am feeling very murderous right now."