Lilith

I dropped him and wiped the blood from my lips. He was convenient, more than anything else. I didn’t really need to feed for another week, but it was his misfortune to stumble upon my dwelling and I simply took advantage of it. I would have to see if the witch wanted the body; I had no use for it with no blood, but witches used the bones for things I didn’t want to ask about. For now, though, he could stay in the garden, I didn’t want to have to get blood out of the carpet again.

I set off down the lane. The witch lived at the very end of the road, bordering the forest. She didn’t socialise much, just kept to herself and provided services to the others the same we all did. She hadn’t come to a village meeting yet either, despite having lived here for over a year. She was odd, but I liked her. Despite the late hour, I knew she would be awake. We kept a similar schedule; she because most plants were best picked at night, and me because I couldn’t go out in the day. Most of the rest of the village were day-dwellers, except the daemon, but none of us really talked to him. It was a nice night, and not a full moon thankfully, so I didn’t have to worry about Emile. We normally got on very well, but when he was in his wolf form his instincts took over. It’s never his fault so I just stay inside on full moons, it’s not a perfect system but it works for us. I passed his house on the right, silent and dark aside from one light. I bet he’s building baby furniture; his mate is due any day now.

Next to Emile is where Zeb lives. He’s quite nice, for a daemon, but very reclusive. He says talking to too many other supernaturals messes up his senses, so he only comes to the monthly village meeting. His house is always surrounded by darkness. No matter where the sun is shining, there’s always a complete circle of pulsating shadows. Not that my house was much better. I can’t see it myself, but I’ve been told by the others that there’s some kind of dark aura that surrounds my house.

After Zeb there’s a big gap until the smallest dwelling in the village. The faeries live there, and it’s not so much a house as it is a hollowed-out tree stump that they claimed when they moved here. There’s three of them, a little family.  The baby is only a few moons old, so they’ll stay until he is at least a full year old; faeries never stay in one place for very long. They’re good people though, and their help in protecting the village is invaluable, I don’t know what we’ll do when they move on.

After the faeries is the witch’s cabin. Her backdoor opens onto the forest. She claimed she wanted that house to make it easier for her to pick plants, but I think she just wanted the house furthest away from everyone else. It’s a nice cabin, white with a thatched roof. She had lots of plants growing up the walls. I could identify some of them, but botany was never my strong suit. It was quite picturesque, exactly where you picture a witch living, I would think. Unsurprisingly, the lights were on. As I opened the gate, I felt the customary wash of magic reading me. Whatever the spell was had never hurt me, so I never inquired after what it did; there were not a lot of things that were dangerous to my kind, so it didn’t bother me.

I knocked on the door and waited. It always took a while for her to come to the door, she was usually doing something that required concentration. I didn’t mind waiting though. A few minutes later, the door creaked open.

“Celeste, might I come in?”