Lief stopped dead on the sidewalk, with his hands in his pockets observing the scene unfolding at the end of the street.
The three small silhouettes turned the street corner walking in perfect sync.
They were holding hands, swinging their arms with a rhythmic lightness that suggested they had just come from a quiet afternoon at the park.
They looked painfully innocent, the very image of carefree childhood.
However, he could not help a frown marking itself on his forehead.
His senses detected something that did not fit with the visual image. Upon focusing his attention on Lillith, he perceived an unusual aura.
It did not smell of blood. There was not that metallic trace of violence, nor the heaviness of an evil entity. What he felt was harder to categorize.
It was a sensation of... fullness.
It was like being near a lion that had just finished eating a whole zebra and now rests under the sun, with a full stomach.
Lillith radiated a wave of satisfaction energy, a gluttonous satiety.
When they reached him, he decided not to dig too deep into the details, shifted his gaze toward Esther and ruffled her hair softly.
"Where have you been? It is getting late," he asked, keeping his tone light. "Were you playing around out there?"
"We just took a long walk," responded Lillith before the others could speak, with an angelic smile. "And we got a little dessert."
"Dessert?" repeated Lief, arching an eyebrow.
"Mhm. It was delicious," she added, licking her lips.
"..."
He knew that that "dessert" had not been ice cream nor an apple pie.
But upon looking at them, he noticed that their dresses were impeccable. There were no stains, there were no scratches, and their expressions were calm.
If they had caused problems, at least they had had the decency to clean up the mess.
He decided to let it slide this time.
"Fine, I do not want to know the details," he said sighing. "I am going up to shower and wash the day off. You girls go inside, behave yourselves and find something on the television. No news channels."
Having said this, he walked past them and entered the house.
...
Twenty minutes later, the main bathroom had turned into a sauna.
The hot water fell with force from the showerhead, hitting the tiles and filling the room with a comforting steam.
Lief was standing under the stream, with his head tilted, letting the heat loosen the knots of tension in his shoulders. He closed his eyes while the water slipped over the muscles of his back and chest, washing away the fatigue.
It was then that the atmosphere in the room changed subtly.
The steam that fogged the large mirror above the sink began to distort. The drops of condensation grouped, spun and converged until outlining the perfect silhouette of a beautiful young woman.
Little by little, the figure of Airam emerged from the reflective surface.
She was not standing rigidly, but was reclining "inside" the glass, as if the mirror were a window and she was resting on a sofa, observing the show with cheekiness.
Her eyes swept over Lief from top to bottom, without missing a single detail.
"It does not matter how many times I see it, that is... frankly abnormal," commented Airam without beating around the bush, resonating directly in Lief's mind with crystal clarity. "You should register that thing as a lethal weapon."
Already accustomed to the total lack of privacy that implied having a mirror spirit as an acquaintance, Lief opened an eye, wiping the water from his face.
"Stop looking, pervert," he murmured, although without true annoyance. "How is Maria?"
Airam rolled her eyes.
"Oh, she is fine," she snorted. "Physically fine. Mentally... well, that is another story. She has not stopped talking about you since she got home. 'Lief this,' 'Lief that,' 'I wonder if the cops didn't bother Lief'... I am about to develop calluses on my ears."
"...if she knew that you are thinking about her right now... she would probably faint from excitement."
...
Meanwhile, in Maria's room
She was lying face down on her bed, hugging a large pillow against her chest.
The room was in semi-darkness, illuminated only by the light coming in through the window.
She sighed, feeling a little melancholic.
Suddenly, the surface of her full-length mirror, located in the corner of the room, rippled and the figure of Airam appeared, with arms crossed and a smile.
"See? I told you he has you in mind," her voice startled Maria.
!
She sat up abruptly, with her eyes wide open and hopeful.
"R-Really?" she asked, with a trembling voice. "Did he ask about me? What did he say?"
"Of course he asked," said Airam, floating lazily in the reflection. "Basically, it was the first thing he said upon entering the shower. But, why settle for words when you can see the evidence?"
"Evidence?" Maria tilted her head, confused.
"Yes, look at this," said Airam naturally.
With a spectral snap of fingers, Airam's image in the mirror vanished and was replaced by a live broadcast.
Maria's mirror turned into a direct window into a bathroom.
The steam was thick, but not enough to hide the tall and powerful figure that was under the water. The image was sharp: broad shoulders, water running down a sculpted torso, the hip line…
"Look at that," narrated Airam as if she were presenting a nature documentary. "As soon as he returned, while he was washing, he was asking about you. It is almost romantic, isn't it?"
"..."
For a second, Maria's brain froze. Her eyes took in the image.
Boom
It was as if a shame bomb had detonated in her face. Her face went from pale to a violent crimson red in less than a second.
"Ahhhhh!"
Letting out a stifled scream, she threw herself back, grabbed the duvet and covered herself completely, curling up into a ball under the blankets.
She began to kick frantically under the fabric.
"Airam! Y-You...! How can you show me this?! It is indecent! Get it off! Turn it off right now!" she screamed from her shelter.
In the mirror, the image of the shower vanished to show Airam again who was laughing out loud, wiping an imaginary tear from her eye.
...
Lief turned off the shower faucet, cutting off the water, and silence returned to the bathroom.
He paid no more mind to Airam; after all, privacy was a vague concept in this house.
He dried off quickly, ran a towel through his hair, and dressed in comfortable clothes: gray sweatpants and a basic white T-shirt.
Upon leaving the bathroom, the house felt quiet, but his instincts kept buzzing at a low frequency.
He entered his room, took his phone and dialed Jennifer's number first.
It barely rang once before the line opened.
"Master~ do you miss me so soon?" Jennifer's voice dripped with a sensual laziness, as if she had just woken up from a nap.
"I am just making sure you are okay," responded Lief, maintaining his neutral tone.
"Oh, I am wonderful. In fact, I feel fantastic, I think my power has increased a little," said Jennifer and then, her tone lowered, becoming more conspiratorial. "On the other hand, I feel that something disappeared near your house a few minutes ago."
"Understood," said Lief. His suspicions were solidifying. "Stay alert."
He hung up and dialed the next number. Carrie.
"Lief?"
Carrie's voice sounded on the second ring, with a mixture of surprise and relief.
"Hello, Carrie. How do you feel?"
"I am fine, really," she responded, and her voice sounded firmer than usual. "I am practicing the meditation method you taught me to maintain control."
"I am glad to hear that, keep practicing," advised Lief softly. "Be careful."
"Sigh…"
Once he hung up, he let out a sigh. If both Jennifer and Carrie felt the change in the atmosphere, then what had happened was not a minor incident.
The doubt in his heart dissipated to give way to a certainty.
He left the phone on the bed and went out into the hallway heading to Lillith's room.
He did not bother to knock and turned the knob and pushed the door.
The room was in semi-darkness, illuminated only by a night lamp shaped like a moon. Lillith was sitting in the center of her bed, with legs crossed and hugging an antique doll against her chest, which had no face, only a white cloth surface.
The air in the room was dense and strangely smelled of burnt sugar.
Lief stopped at the threshold.
"..."
Lillith did not flinch at Lief's entrance.
Her deep eyes locked on him, stripped of guilt, fear or the mask of "good girl" that she used to wear before the world.
In its place, there was only an absolute serenity.
Lief walked to the foot of the bed and, crossing his arms, observed her from above with severity.
"Lillith, speak," he demanded with a hard voice. "Save the act. Where exactly did you go? And what is that smell you have impregnated on you?"
She tilted her head slowly observing him without changing expression and in silence.
"...We went nearby," she responded with a flat tone. "I just went to absorb the fear of a clown."
Clown?
Lief's mind made the connection in an instant.
Pennywise.
He felt a chill that was not of terror, but of absolute incredulity before the magnitude of the absurdity. She was talking about IT, the entity that had plagued the town for centuries.
Lief looked at Lillith's impassive face. For humanity, Pennywise was the incarnation of the ultimate nightmare. For Lillith, on the other hand, apparently it had been just a brief stop to eat.
Jennifer's comment about something "tasty" that had disappeared made sense in his head.
Lief rubbed his temples, feeling the onset of a migraine. How the hell was he supposed to discipline her? Was he supposed to say: "No eating cosmic entities?"
The silence stretched.
He looked at her, then at the faceless doll, and finally let out the air he held in his lungs.
"Was it tasty?" was the only thing he could ask, with genuine resignation.
Lillith seemed to consider the question seriously. She looked toward the ceiling for a moment, recalling the flavor.
"A decent vintage," she finally decreed. "Intense flavor, very concentrated. Although the appetizer was too crude... it lacked refinement and was mixed with a lot of cheap fear. But overall... Good."
For a brief instant, Lief felt a pang of sympathy for Pennywise. He could perfectly imagine his desperation in his final moments. Trying to use fear illusions against Emma, Esther, and Lillith was like trying to put out a forest fire by spitting on it.
Without hesitation, he extended his hand and his fingers settled on Lillith's head and he rubbed it firmly, slightly messing up her hair.
"Next time you crave that kind of 'dessert,' remind me to sign a permit for you in advance," he said "I do not want surprises or indigestion."
A flash of pleasure, almost imperceptible to anyone who did not know her, crossed Lillith's eyes and she nodded obediently, leaning slightly into the touch of his hand.
"Understood," she murmured.
Withdrawing his hand, Lief turned around and left the room, closing the door softly.
He decided not to inquire further. The problem was solved and, frankly, he did not have the mental energy to dissect the gory details of the hunt.
He walked down the hallway to his own room and upon entering, he dropped heavily onto the bed, feeling how the mattress absorbed the weight of his fatigue.
He let out a deep sigh, looking at the ceiling.
Managing this zoo was more mentally exhausting than running a marathon.
He let his mind go blank for a few seconds, enjoying the silence, before sitting up and settling on the bed. With a simple thought, a translucent interface deployed before his eyes.
[Name: Leif Connor]
[Sex: Male]
[Age: 18 years]
[Main Mission: ???]
[Backpack: Ebony & Ivory, Pure Silver Cross x2, Gastronomic Tablecloth, One Star Sphere, Fenrir, Jason's Mask]
[Abilities: Perfect Memory, Pure Yang Body, Charm, Charisma +1, Holy Light Effect, Purification, Ox Talisman, Telekinesis. (Rank EX), Evil Containment Wave, Blessing of the Goddess of Seduction (Rank EX)]
[Pets: Lillith, Jennifer]
[Achievements: (Pillar) — You managed to get a ghost to trip over you three times in a row. (First blood) — Congratulations, you have become a man.]
[Coins: 50,999]
[Draws:
– Basic: 1000 Coins x 10 pulls. – Intermediate: 100000 Coins x 10 pulls. – Advanced: 1000000 Coins x 10 pulls. – Supreme: 100000000 Coins x 10 pulls.]
"Not bad..."
Looking at the panel, he prepared to do a round of low level draws.
________
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