Out of the Darkness

86

Like she wasn't beautiful for that time era, she was just plain beautiful. I was struck by this, frozen for a moment looking at the first picture. I shook my head, then scrolled down to the next photo. The rest of the photos were her family members that lived there. Some were families, some were just one woman. I stared at the pictures, shocked by what I saw. The photos that we had seen on the wall, inside that dreaded house, were just like this. The girls in the photos never changed. They stayed youthful and gorgeous, their skin like creamy alabaster. "How?" I muttered, scrolling the pics. When I found the one of just a single woman, I stared hard at the photo. "This isn't possible," I said aloud, then scrolled back up to the first one with Lilith. It was her. In all of the singular women photos. They were all Lilith. Different clothes, same woman. Curious, I scrolled back to the family photos. The woman standing in the back, next to a man that I assumed was her husband. It was Lilith. I looked at the rest of photos. She was in all of them. Every last one, and she looked exactly the same, down to the small smile on her face. There was no way in hell that she had someone in her family every generation that looked exactly like her in every single way. That's just not possible. It was her. But how was that possible? No one could live that long. A heavy feeling settled in my chest as I looked into the black eye of the woman. A dark feeling, almost familiar. "She's the witch," I muttered. "The Dark One." She had to be. I scanned back through the article and found where it said that Lilith had passed away from influenza in 1909, at the young age of 27. I shook my head at the screen, disagreeing with what I read. "She didn't die!" I exclaimed. I clicked and saved the picture of her, then scrolled down to one of the other pictures and pulled it up next to it. Side by side. They were the exact same person. This woman's name was Martha Walton. She had different clothes than Lilith, a different hairstyle, and a little more clarity to the older picture, but it was the same exact woman. "Gotcha bitch," I said, grinning and pumping my fist into the air. I knew it was her. That was the only explanation. My grin soon faded when I remembered that I had no clue what to do from here...but it was a start. I dove headfirst into more research, looking every woman that was named in this article, every life that Lilith had lived. I managed to trace her all the way to the 1960's. Her name was Glinda Rochelle. From that point, it didn't interest me, because I knew. I knew that it didn't matter who's name the house was in, even if it now technically belonged to the city. The house would always be her home. It would always be Lilith's. I tried to see what I could find online about how someone could stay  young forever, but all it gave me was a lot of spell work, and things that made me really uncomfortable. After a while of trying to process the darkest shit I had ever seen, my head started to ache and I gave up. I let my head fall back against the couch, and closed my eyes. My body hurt from barely moving for the past few hours, but I was also exhausted. Mentally and physically. Then Anna was with me again, standing on the beach in her flowy white skirt. I smiled at her, then looked down at my bare feet in the sand. I had done this before. The realization hit me so hard, I actually stumbled, just as Anna tried to pull my hand as she started to run down the shore. I caught myself, and jogged with her, letting our feet sink into the sand as we went a little deeper into the water. I caught her and spun her around, just as she splashed water in my face. "I wish this was real," I replied, letting her slide down my body as I set her on her feet. She cocked her head to the side, and pushed out her lips into a pout. "But it is real. If you let it be," she answered, then leaned up onto her toes and pressed her soft lips to mine. I let myself sink into her, to enjoy the kiss just for a moment, before I pulled away. "It feels real," I replied. "But it's not. I need your help Anna. I need to know how I can help you. Is this another realm? Is SHE here?" Anna bit her lip as a darkness passed over her eyes. "No, She's not here. This is only your realm Colby. I'm not Anna, as she is now. Only her, as you remember her." I sighed, feeling defeated. "Is there no way to find her?" I asked. She gave me a little smile and tilted her head. "If I know, then you know. I'm in your head, Colby. So, is there a way to find me? Perhaps, if you have a dream world, then everyone has a dream world. Or rather, their own 'room' so to speak. Maybe you just need to find another door?" She shrugged, then hugged me tight, before whispering in my ear. "Find me soon," she said. I squeezed her tightly to me, just as I felt my eyes sting with emotion. "Promise," I replied. A giant wave knocked me over, and we both went down. I didn't think about the fact that we were only in the water up to our knees, because once we broke the salty surface, we were way out in the ocean. Waves tumbled back and forth, water taking us down, and ripping us apart. I struggled to the surface, looking around frantically for Anna. The sun shone brightly, glittering off the now calm water. I didn't see her. I screamed her name and dove back under, one, two, three times, but she still wasn't there.