Lady of The Rings

Dark Sorceress, Dragon Queen of Middle Earth and Sauron's Beloved 26. 18+MDNI

[fablesfolklore]

My Love Undying

Inspired by @missjadesfics , @bamsywrites , @kasagia and @just-trying-to-fangirl-in-peace to name a few I have decided to finally write a Sauron x Reader series that I've been contemplating for ages. Gif by @martanis

Prologue

There was only darkness. Only the bottomless pit of the cave – not that he knew that was where he was. No, for him there was only this mindless, starving existence in this…this…this black mass of matter. It was excruciating – not having a body. There was nowhere for the nerve endings to meet, to connect. Only exquisite agony. What was his name? He could not recall. How did he end up here like this? Some tendril of memory floated before him in the dark and he tried desperately to reach for it. Struggled to catch it and grasp it tightly in his hold and remember. Remember. It laughed at him - cold, high and cruel – as it danced just out of reach before disintegrating into nothing. And he didn’t know what was worse. The pain, the frustration or that he couldn’t even scream. It seemed eternal, crying soundlessly into the abyss like some pathetic creature from a lost world.

Suddenly he felt it.

It was only tiny. The slightest warmth, the ghost of a consciousness caressing his…and light. Bright, white blinding light. It burned through him, through the numbness, through the roaring pain until it twisted itself into pleasure. And he could feel. After minutes? Hours? Years? Perhaps even centuries of nothingness, he could finally feel another consciousness nestled against his. Gently, he nudged it, aching for contact. It stirred and like a body next to him it seemed to roll closer, nudging him back before falling away. Regardless of the shortness of the moment and the slightness of the contact he found himself…. starving, ravenous, desperate for more. Who? What? Questions that fed his curiosity, questions that fuelled him, lent him the strength to move in this pointless form…and slowly he fed. On small things at first but anything with a consciousness, anything that would make him remember. Insects, then rodents, sometimes even plants. And slowly it all came back. The light, Eru. The beauty and perfection he had sought in Aule’s forge. And the less pleasant – Melkor. He gave a shudder as his black mass dared to reach out and ensnare a serpent, far bigger than he. Its slippery, scaly body tremored as he wrapped himself around it before it stilled and its eyes became glassy as it surrendered to its fate. And as he ate he remembered his name. or names. He’d certainly had a great many.

Mairon. Gorthaur. Sauron.

Something warm pressed against him and he stilled. The other consciousness was back.

Mairon.

It whispered back to him, invisible lips wrapping around the name he’d long abandoned. Testing it, savouring it. Trying to understand it. Soft and warm. Inviting. He reached for it. For her. He was certain it was a female consciousness that he could feel curled against him. Stretching himself as far out as he could with as little strength he had, searching, calling, seeking out with whatever tendrils of power he had left. Swallowing back a bitter cry of frustration when he couldn’t find it. He’d scared her off. Spooked her. He’d have to try to be more careful. If he crawled upwards, preserving his strength, he could feel the light. Not so much the heat of it, but the punishing rays of it upon his cursed form. It was not long before he was out of the pit, dragging himself pitifully down the snow-capped mountain he’d found himself entrapped. He’d trawled half way down when he willed himself to be still. To the left of him he could sense more than see something moving ever closer. A snow fox wandered around the snow-capped mountains, sniffing, hunting, searching for a small morsel. He could feel it’s body heat as it wandered closer. He could feel it sniffing around him curious, hungry…but not as hungry as he.  It squealed as he entrapped it, convulsed and shook desperately to free itself to no avail. It was no match for him. The poor thing only suffered a moment before its eye became glassy and it submitted to its consumption.

He continued down the mountain side and with every inch of strength and power that slowly seeped back into him he could remember. Every torture his master had forced upon him, every face he’d terrorised and killed. The relief he’d felt when he’d realised for certain that Melkor was gone, had been dragged back to Eru in chains. He could feel the ambition…the belief that he could fix what his master had broken. That conviction surged through him once again for a brief, euphoric moment before he recoiled, shuddering as he recalled the sickening expression of relief on Adar’s face as he plunged Morgoth’s crown into Sauron’s skull. He could still feel the pain radiating as though it was still happening. No. When he finally had a body once again, when he had regained enough strength…he’d kill them. He’d kill Adar and his so called ‘children’. They’d burn for what they’d done to h-. She was back. That warm, soothing consciousness he’d failed to find. She was back, rubbing her mind against his soothingly, easing away the fury he had been feeling and replacing it was calm. He was about to nudge her back, to reach out for her once again when he heard it.

Hooves beating thunderously against the rotting earth. Wheels careening behind them. A strangled growl of frustration escaped him as he pulled himself away from your consciousness, the warmth of your company abandoning him as the cold northern air sunk back into him. He could feel the loud large heartbeat.

Human.

His soul ached, hungry, desperate for flesh. Desperate for strength. Desperate to be more than whatever he was right now. And so he waited. Waited and waited until just the right moment and then with what little power he had left in him he used to latch onto the wheel of the wagon and pull himself inside, slithering towards the pathetic hag driving it. She didn't notice until he was upon her and he was too hungry to notice her cry of shock and anguish, too hungry to notice the way the horses reered and bolted. No, he was too busy consuming and growing and morphing and becoming. And then he could see. He could see the waste of land he had dragged himself through, he could see the rotting wood of the wagon. He could smell and he could hear. And he could feel the icy air on his flesh. The muscles in his new body ached as they stretched and moved for the first time.

He stepped out of the wagon, relishing in his consciousness. Revelling in the sight of the world around him. Breathing in the brittle air that felt at first like thorns in his lungs but soon eased to nothingness. He relished the feel of the snow, crisp and cool underfoot. It melted against his burning body heat as his celestial spirit grew accustomed, once again, to the physical mortal flesh that it took form over. He glanced down to study himself for the first time and wrinkled his nose in disgust when he realised that he was, in fact, human. No matter, it would have to do for the moment until he had regained enough power to mould himself into something more suitable. He reached out, his consciousness once again searching for the mind he had felt entwined with his all throughout his torment. He closed his eyes and concentrated, ignoring the strange sensation in his left forearm. A moment later he smiled, sighing with contentment when he found you and nudged. A gentle caress of greeting. He ought to thank you, after all. He would not be here, and would not remember who he was if not for you. He released a breath when you nudged back. Gently. Shy, curious and playful. He chuckled and reached further, nudging a little harder, hunting for your thoughts. Who are you? When you felt him nudge, you backed off. The mental shield you had learned to harness rising as a barrier between you. You did not know who this was, though you had felt their caress all your life.

He caught sight of the mark branded into his arm and his breath caught in the back of his throat as he recalled how it had tingled when his consciousness had reached for you. A mark he’d never thought he would have. Curiously, he reached for you once again, testing, searching and when he found you... When he finally felt your reach back, curious yourself he almost whined when he felt the mark against his flesh itch in confirmation. And for the first time, it was he and not you who flinched back timidly, startled by the revelation. Oh. Is that what you are? Is that what he can feel? A mate? A soul bound and entwined with his. The thought had a profound effect on him. An intense rush of emotions. Anger. Fear. Excitement. Had Eru forgiven him? Were you his reward? Or were you a punishment? Would you turn your back on him in disgust when you realised who you were bound to? He shuddered at the thought. He did not know what he would do if you rejected him…But if by some miracle, you did not flinch away from his touch…what then? He tried to picture it, tried to imagine having someone who was his and his alone. The mark prickled and he found himself smiling as he took his first steps into his new life. Walking in the confidence that his path would lead him to you.

[dreamlandcreations]

[fablesfolklore]

Thank you so much @dreamlandcreations. Yes it is a soul mate au. I'm a bit nervous as I lost a bit of confidence in my writing so updates won't be every day but I hope I'm glad you liked it.

[fablesfolklore]

My Love Undying

Inspired by @missjadesfics , @bamsywrites , @kasagia and @just-trying-to-fangirl-in-peace to name a few I have decided to finally write a Sauron x Reader series that I've been contemplating for ages. Gif by @martanis

Prologue

There was only darkness. Only the bottomless pit of the cave – not that he knew that was where he was. No, for him there was only this mindless, starving existence in this…this…this black mass of matter. It was excruciating – not having a body. There was nowhere for the nerve endings to meet, to connect. Only exquisite agony. What was his name? He could not recall. How did he end up here like this? Some tendril of memory floated before him in the dark and he tried desperately to reach for it. Struggled to catch it and grasp it tightly in his hold and remember. Remember. It laughed at him - cold, high and cruel – as it danced just out of reach before disintegrating into nothing. And he didn’t know what was worse. The pain, the frustration or that he couldn’t even scream. It seemed eternal, crying soundlessly into the abyss like some pathetic creature from a lost world.

Suddenly he felt it.

It was only tiny. The slightest warmth, the ghost of a consciousness caressing his…and light. Bright, white blinding light. It burned through him, through the numbness, through the roaring pain until it twisted itself into pleasure. And he could feel. After minutes? Hours? Years? Perhaps even centuries of nothingness, he could finally feel another consciousness nestled against his. Gently, he nudged it, aching for contact. It stirred and like a body next to him it seemed to roll closer, nudging him back before falling away. Regardless of the shortness of the moment and the slightness of the contact he found himself…. starving, ravenous, desperate for more. Who? What? Questions that fed his curiosity, questions that fuelled him, lent him the strength to move in this pointless form…and slowly he fed. On small things at first but anything with a consciousness, anything that would make him remember. Insects, then rodents, sometimes even plants. And slowly it all came back. The light, Eru. The beauty and perfection he had sought in Aule’s forge. And the less pleasant – Melkor. He gave a shudder as his black mass dared to reach out and ensnare a serpent, far bigger than he. Its slippery, scaly body tremored as he wrapped himself around it before it stilled and its eyes became glassy as it surrendered to its fate. And as he ate he remembered his name. or names. He’d certainly had a great many.

Mairon. Gorthaur. Sauron.

Something warm pressed against him and he stilled. The other consciousness was back.

Mairon.

It whispered back to him, invisible lips wrapping around the name he’d long abandoned. Testing it, savouring it. Trying to understand it. Soft and warm. Inviting. He reached for it. For her. He was certain it was a female consciousness that he could feel curled against him. Stretching himself as far out as he could with as little strength he had, searching, calling, seeking out with whatever tendrils of power he had left. Swallowing back a bitter cry of frustration when he couldn’t find it. He’d scared her off. Spooked her. He’d have to try to be more careful. If he crawled upwards, preserving his strength, he could feel the light. Not so much the heat of it, but the punishing rays of it upon his cursed form. It was not long before he was out of the pit, dragging himself pitifully down the snow-capped mountain he’d found himself entrapped. He’d trawled half way down when he willed himself to be still. To the left of him he could sense more than see something moving ever closer. A snow fox wandered around the snow-capped mountains, sniffing, hunting, searching for a small morsel. He could feel it’s body heat as it wandered closer. He could feel it sniffing around him curious, hungry…but not as hungry as he.  It squealed as he entrapped it, convulsed and shook desperately to free itself to no avail. It was no match for him. The poor thing only suffered a moment before its eye became glassy and it submitted to its consumption.

He continued down the mountain side and with every inch of strength and power that slowly seeped back into him he could remember. Every torture his master had forced upon him, every face he’d terrorised and killed. The relief he’d felt when he’d realised for certain that Melkor was gone, had been dragged back to Eru in chains. He could feel the ambition…the belief that he could fix what his master had broken. That conviction surged through him once again for a brief, euphoric moment before he recoiled, shuddering as he recalled the sickening expression of relief on Adar’s face as he plunged Morgoth’s crown into Sauron’s skull. He could still feel the pain radiating as though it was still happening. No. When he finally had a body once again, when he had regained enough strength…he’d kill them. He’d kill Adar and his so called ‘children’. They’d burn for what they’d done to h-. She was back. That warm, soothing consciousness he’d failed to find. She was back, rubbing her mind against his soothingly, easing away the fury he had been feeling and replacing it was calm. He was about to nudge her back, to reach out for her once again when he heard it.

Hooves beating thunderously against the rotting earth. Wheels careening behind them. A strangled growl of frustration escaped him as he pulled himself away from your consciousness, the warmth of your company abandoning him as the cold northern air sunk back into him. He could feel the loud large heartbeat.

Human.

His soul ached, hungry, desperate for flesh. Desperate for strength. Desperate to be more than whatever he was right now. And so he waited. Waited and waited until just the right moment and then with what little power he had left in him he used to latch onto the wheel of the wagon and pull himself inside, slithering towards the pathetic hag driving it. She didn't notice until he was upon her and he was too hungry to notice her cry of shock and anguish, too hungry to notice the way the horses reered and bolted. No, he was too busy consuming and growing and morphing and becoming. And then he could see. He could see the waste of land he had dragged himself through, he could see the rotting wood of the wagon. He could smell and he could hear. And he could feel the icy air on his flesh. The muscles in his new body ached as they stretched and moved for the first time.

He stepped out of the wagon, relishing in his consciousness. Revelling in the sight of the world around him. Breathing in the brittle air that felt at first like thorns in his lungs but soon eased to nothingness. He relished the feel of the snow, crisp and cool underfoot. It melted against his burning body heat as his celestial spirit grew accustomed, once again, to the physical mortal flesh that it took form over. He glanced down to study himself for the first time and wrinkled his nose in disgust when he realised that he was, in fact, human. No matter, it would have to do for the moment until he had regained enough power to mould himself into something more suitable. He reached out, his consciousness once again searching for the mind he had felt entwined with his all throughout his torment. He closed his eyes and concentrated, ignoring the strange sensation in his left forearm. A moment later he smiled, sighing with contentment when he found you and nudged. A gentle caress of greeting. He ought to thank you, after all. He would not be here, and would not remember who he was if not for you. He released a breath when you nudged back. Gently. Shy, curious and playful. He chuckled and reached further, nudging a little harder, hunting for your thoughts. Who are you? When you felt him nudge, you backed off. The mental shield you had learned to harness rising as a barrier between you. You did not know who this was, though you had felt their caress all your life.

He caught sight of the mark branded into his arm and his breath caught in the back of his throat as he recalled how it had tingled when his consciousness had reached for you. A mark he’d never thought he would have. Curiously, he reached for you once again, testing, searching and when he found you... When he finally felt your reach back, curious yourself he almost whined when he felt the mark against his flesh itch in confirmation. And for the first time, it was he and not you who flinched back timidly, startled by the revelation. Oh. Is that what you are? Is that what he can feel? A mate? A soul bound and entwined with his. The thought had a profound effect on him. An intense rush of emotions. Anger. Fear. Excitement. Had Eru forgiven him? Were you his reward? Or were you a punishment? Would you turn your back on him in disgust when you realised who you were bound to? He shuddered at the thought. He did not know what he would do if you rejected him…But if by some miracle, you did not flinch away from his touch…what then? He tried to picture it, tried to imagine having someone who was his and his alone. The mark prickled and he found himself smiling as he took his first steps into his new life. Walking in the confidence that his path would lead him to you.

[fablesfolklore]

Masterlist

Lilith Rose Shelby Peaky Blinders

Pre-Series 1

First Blood

First Kiss

Series 6

Jealous Man

Post Series 6

In The Graveyard with Lilith Rose Shelby (and Jack Nelson)

[fablesfolklore]

First Kiss

Summary: This is one of Lilith Rose Shelby's firsts. One of her childhood/Teenage experiences/adventures. A boy from school wants to take Lilith to the picture house, but she's not sure if she wants to go with him....because she likes someone else.

TW: Underage. Kissing. Violence.

The year was 1915.

It was quieter these days as Lilith walked home from school. The men had gone to war a year ago and as such the women had taken on their roles as breadwinners. The streets were quieter and that only made the noise, when it did come, seem louder. It was warm. One of the warmest summers she’d ever experienced. Her cotton shirt clung to her skin annoyingly and beads of sweat gathered at her temples. She’d grown a lot this last year. At fourteen her figure was slowly shedding its childishness and becoming more womanly. Her hair, now shoulder length shone black like a raven’s feathers in the golden sunlight. She must have been the only person in small heath who seemed at ease. She was happy…and that made most people uncomfortable. There was a war on. Surely she should be worried. Her sunny disposition, however, had engaged the attention of a boy at school. George Kimber was only a year older than Lilith. He was handsome…or so the other girls at school said as much. Lilith wasn’t bothered. At least, not at first. Up until George, she’d only ever looked at girls. She used to stare at Esme Lee a lot, fascinated by her. One day the gypsy girl caught her looking and Lilith blushed before stalking ahead of her and pretending it hadn’t happened. After that Lilith became more guarded with who she looked at and who she acknowledged. She kept herself to herself. which was why Lilith was taken aback when George Kimber swaggered up to her in the schoolyard that very afternoon and asked her if she would go on a date with him to the picture house. Ever confident, like his father, he’d taken her startled expression and silence as a ‘yes’, smiling and winking at her before returning to his school friends. And now here she was on the way home from school, questioning whether or not she actually wanted to go.

     Rounding the corner and onto Watery Lane Lilith smiled when she saw Finn and Ada stood at the door waiting for her. Finn squealed when he saw his sister and ran towards her. Lilith laughed at his fast waddle and wrapped her arms around him when he barrelled into her boyishly. He almost winded her.

      “Careful Finn!” Ada called. “You’ll knock her over one of these days.” Finn smiled toothily up at his sister mischievously as she ruffled his hair. She had a sneaky suspicion that that was the game. The two siblings walked the rest of the way hand in hand. Ada smiled and ushered them inside.

     “Good day at school?” She asked.

     “Not sure, really.”

     “What happened? No one’s been bullying you again I hope.” Ada frowned as she led them into the kitchen and closed the doors to what had once been the betting shop.

     “A boy asked me to go out with him.”      “Oooh!” Ada gasped, delighted. “What boy? What’s his name?”

     “George Kimber.” Lilith dropped her bag on the kitchen table, rifling through it for her homework. Ada’s face fell.

     “Billy Kimber’s boy?”

     “One in the same.”

     “What did you say?” Ada asked nervously.

     “That’s the problem.” Lilith sighed as she slumped into the kitchen chair. “I didn’t.”

     “You didn’t what?”

     “Say anything.”

     “Pardon?” Ada tucked her hair behind her ear and crossed her arms.

     “It all took me by surprise. I was just reading in the school yard and he ran up to me, asked me to go out with him. I was so stunned and…. confused.” Lilith pored herself a glass of water.

     “Confused?”

    “Yes. I’ve never really noticed him before. I mean, I have noticed him. I know who he is. I’ve just never looked at him the way most of the other girls have looked at him.” She took a sip. “So I didn’t say anything…or rather I didn’t have much time to think about it before he took my lack of an answer for a ‘yes’ and walked off.”

       “Bloody typical. He sounds a little entitled. Well, like father like son, I suppose.” Ada scoffed. “You know; Billy Kimber hasn’t even gone to the front. Fucking coward.” Lilith ignored that line. She knew it must have been bad that Billy Kimber had somehow wormed his way away from being conscripted to the front…but secretly she was jealous of George. She wanted Tommy home.

Why did Billy Kimber get to stay if Tommy had to go? Selfish bastard.

Lilith swallowed her resentment and looked at Ada pleadingly.

     “Now I don’t know what to do.” Ada took the seat beside her sister.

     “Would you like to go out with him?” Lilith leaned back and thought about it for a few moments. All the other girls at school liked him and said he was handsome…. or as handsome as a boy could be at the age of fifteen. But Lilith herself didn’t exactly think he was an oil painting. He was obnoxious as well, over confident and bullish towards their peers.

      “No.” She decided. “But I suppose I’ll have to.”

      “You don’t have to do anything.” Lilith considered the prospect of turning him down tomorrow at school and cringed. No, that would be horrific. He’d be humiliated, everyone would talk about it. Lilith did not want to be held responsible for making her family enemies with the Kimber’s.

      “I know. But I don’t want to hurt him. I’ll pay him the respect of pretending to consider him as a potential suitor.” Lilith joked. “And I’ll let him down at gently after a nice evening. Besides, who knows. We might even make friends.” Ada didn’t look too convinced.

      “Lilith, sometimes you can be too nice. You don’t have to-.”

      “I know.” Lilith snapped. “But I’ve made up my mind.” She took out her workbook and began to ignore her sister. “You can go now, Ada.” Lilith didn’t like the description Ada had given her. Nice? When the fuck had she ever been described as nice? Nice was a word used to describe the mousy, shy girl at the end of the street. Nice was a word used to describe a dinner cooked well enough by someone who had cooked it a thousand times over. Nice was a word used to describe a cottage in the boredom of the English countryside. Nice was not a word used to describe Lilith Rose Shelby.

Ada scowled at her sister’s dismissal, grabbed a magazine and stalked out of the room.

*****

Polly was downstairs pacing. She had not been best pleased when the two sisters had informed her of Lilith’s impending date. It certainly didn’t help that the potential target was a Kimber. Tommy would be livid. Lilith could relate to her aunt’s anger. Of course it would be different if the men were not at war. Tommy and Arthur would for sure have put a stop to it and John would have threatened the ginger haired lout to within an inch of his life.

     “You’re not going out with that boy!”

     “I think you’ll find that I am.”

     “You don’t even want to go.”

     “That’s beside the point.”

     “Seriously?! You’re worried about his feelings?!”

     “On the contrary. I’m doing this for-?”

     “For what?!”

     “Us!” Polly scoffed and Lilith picked up a book and threw it at her. “He’s Billy fucking Kimber’s boy!”

     “Language!” snapped Ada.

     “Don’t be a hypocrite Ada.” Polly snarked at her.

     “If I humiliated him then I’d have made us a target for Kimber in the future. There’s no one here to defend us.” Polly had grumbled but reluctantly agreed and now Lilith stood in front of the looking glass as Ada finished pinning her hair. Polly had altered one of her mother’s red dresses for her to wear. She stared at her reflection curiously. It stared back.

     “You look pretty.” Ada whispered when she’d finished.

     “Do I?” She asked. Is that why he’d asked her to go out with him? Because she was nice to look at. It must have been. He’d never even had a proper conversation with her. He didn’t know that she was intelligent or cunning and sly enough to kill him without anyone knowing that it was she who had done it. Her reflection smirked coldly back at her through the looking glass, onyx eyes twinkling wickedly. If he just wanted a pretty doll then that’s what he’d get…a beautiful, terrifying little doll who by the end of the evening would have scared him away from her and all women for the rest of his life. Polly caught eyes with her through the looking glass and smiled.

     “There’s the Lilith I know.”

*****

He was a floppy haired idiot. It waved around his ears like some kind of spaniel as he walked with her towards the picture house. Her small gloved hand was locked tightly in the crook of his arm and she was starting to get pins and needles in her fingers. She clutched her clutch bag closer to her. She’d done all the right things. Smiled, giggled, taken all of his condescending little compliments on how pretty she looked and how lovely she looked on his arm. Either he wasn’t very bright or he just didn’t care both were bad signs. The only moment he’d conjured up a genuine smile from her was when he had presented her with a ticket for a Charlie Chaplin film. She sat beside him in the theatre, savouring her popcorn and resisting the urge to kick him in the shin as he loudly crunched on his at the speed of sound.

What a pig.

The film started and her shoulders dropped in relief when he ceased inhaling his popcorn. She was enjoying it. Charlie Chaplin was hilarious and very clever. When Thomas had taken the family to see him in London she’d thought he was fabulously entertaining. Not to mention rather handsome beneath all that stage makeup. It had been one of the last times the whole family had laughed properly. His success in the film making business pleased her. A laugh bubbled inside her before she froze. Lilith immediately became very aware of George’s arm around her shoulder. She stiffened directly when his fingertips brushed against her bare arm. An unpleasant shudder shot through her and she closed her eyes for a moment fighting every urge to flinch away. The theatre abruptly appeared to shrink and it felt like they were the only two people in the room. except they weren’t. when she peeked out of the corner of her eye, Lilith was aware that there were people everywhere. When the film finally came to an end Lilith stood quickly, turning to address George.

     “If you’ll please excuse me. I need to use the facilities.” She didn’t even look at him. Her eyes darted around him, refusing to make eye contact. Her stomach churned as she turned from him and scampered off without giving him a moment to respond. She disappeared out the back of the theatre and into the ladies’ lavatory. Closing the bathroom stall she opened her eyes and took a moment to gather herself.

What is the matter with you?!

Lilith had no idea. All she could think about was the rats that scuttled across her skin when he touched her. Had it been accidental? She frowned. No. If it had been he would have surely apologised.  She tried to think, to distract herself. What had happened in the last six minutes of the film? Surely he would ask her what she’d enjoyed the most about it. Alas, everything about the film had blurred when he’d touched her.

Get a grip, Shelby. The sooner you get on with this, the sooner it’ll be over.

Lilith exited the stall, marching out of the toilets with fresh determination. The floppy haired fool was waiting for her in the picture house restaurant. He smiled at her, but it didn’t look like a smile to Lilith. Instead it looked more like a sneer. He passed her a Coca-Cola in a glass bottle and she sat down in the booth opposite him. She sipped her beverage silently. She watched his lips move, alas he did not ask her what she liked about the short film. In fact, he didn’t ask her anything. Just talked at her. His lips moved, forming words ceaselessly, but she wasn’t listening. It was all just noise to her. The horrible part came when he abruptly got up and slid into the booth beside her. Lilith shifted away slightly, looking to give herself a little bit of space. George shifted with her. He leaned towards her, reaching a hand out to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. Lilith, uncomfortable with how close he was to her, sat stock still, hoping that he’d pull back. He didn’t. It was when his nose brushed against hers that she realised what he wanted. She recoiled.

Absolutely not.

Lilith’s fingers fumbled with the clasp on her clutch bag. Before George could even press his lips against Lilith’s she felt him freeze when he heard the clicking of a gun as she cocked the hammer and pressed it against his groin. He pulled back a little to look at her in disdain, his features twisting hideously in anger.

    “Move away from me please.” Lilith smiled as politely as she could. Her pearly teeth on display, glistening like weapons in the lamplight. “I don’t want to kiss you.”

    “No one says no to me. I’m Billy Kimber’s son.” She didn’t know why that made her laugh. But it did. It bubbled inside of her like something hot and poisonous. What was he trying to achieve? The audacity she had to both reject him and to laugh at him must have flabbergasted him because the expression of absolute shock on her face in the seconds before it twisted into something more sinister caused the laugh inside of her to bubble to the surface and she let out a vindictive little giggle.

     “That attitude won’t get you anywhere, Georgie.” She laughed. “You really are an entitled little brat, aren’t you? You can’t handle it when someone says ‘no’.”

      “You little gypsy slut!” He snapped at her, before lunging at her. He wrapped one strong hand around her wrist, squeezing it painfully in an attempt to get her to drop the gun. She held tight, determined not to let go. She knew this was a bad idea. Is this what he did with other girls he took out? Is this what would happen if they also rejected him? She didn’t have time to ask as he wrapped his other hand around her throat and squeezed. She spluttered and coughed, trying to wriggle away from his as fast as she could. But in spite of how lanky he was, he was very strong. It frustrated her as she grew lightheaded. She gripped the hand around her neck and dug her nails into his flesh. The boy gritted his teeth but refused to let go. She was beginning to fear that the last thing she’d ever see was his face when something incredible happened. A band of red bloomed out of nowhere, a beautiful velvet ribbon. She watched, transfixed as delicate fingers wrapped the ribbon around George’s neck and squeezed mercilessly. The boy instantly released his grip on her, his hands flying to the ribbon crushing his Adam's apple. As Lilith’s vision cleared and became less blurry, her eyes locked with Esme Lee’s. The Shelby girl blushed and sat upright, steadying herself against the table.

      “Are you ok?” Esme’s sweet voice rang in her ears. Lilith nodded and Esme released George from her grip. Esme scowled down at the ginger-haired boy and snapped at him. “I think this date is over George. Go home to Daddy now and leave her alone if you know what's good for you.” stepped out of his way and Lilith nearly choked on a laugh as he bolted for the exit door. They watched him leave.

       “Thank you,” Lilith murmured, looking down as she tremblingly returned her gun to her clutch bag. She looked up and found Esme staring at her. “What?”

       “You’re too pretty to go out with him.”

       “Oh.” Lilith licked her lips, nervous. She hadn’t been expecting the compliment. She blushed and said the first thing she could think of. “You’re pretty too.” Esme laughed and offered Lilith her hand.

      “Come on. Let’s get out of here and have some real fun.” Lilith looked at her proffered hand for a moment and felt her heart flutter. The red ribbon Esme had used to strangle George was now tied around a braid in her hair. Lilith was taken aback at just how beautiful Esme really looked. She took Esme’s warm hand with her own and the Lee girl’s fingers hugged her own. The two of them ran off into the evening without looking back.

*****

Lilith laughed. She couldn’t believe her luck.  She was dancing around a large bonfire, under a starry sky. Hand in hand with wilful, wild Esme Lee. Lilith couldn’t bring herself to look away from the girl before her. Esme’s hair fluttered in the breeze, the red ribbon in her hair standing out in the warmth of the firelight. Her eyes sparkled with joy and laughter. Her laugh was girlish and carefree, the tone of it caressing the inside of Lilith’s ears. Everytime Esme had spoken, Lilith had felt herself become warm and breathless. Esme’s skirt dances in the breeze, the embroidered flowers against the black fabric reaching out to Lilith in an open embrace. Their hands were clasped as they danced and sung together beneath the summer sky.

      “Enjoying yourself?” Esme asked, her soft lips curling into a gentle smile as she locked eyes with Lilith. The Shelby girl nodded vigorously. This was infinitely preferable to the picture house. This was the best she’d felt in a long time. Interest nudged at her.

      “How did you know I was at the picture house?” Lilith asked curiously as their dancing slowed into a sway. Esme stopped dancing and glanced over at the Vardo at the edge of the party. It looked empty. Esme tugged Lilith towards it and she followed without question. The two girls climbed inside and Esme closed the door behind them before they both settled on the rug beneath them. Lilith sat, admiring the room.

      “I saw him ask you in the school yard.” Esme answered softly, hypnotically. “You didn’t look comfortable so I thought I’d check in on you.” Lilith’s heart jumped.

      “Thank you.” She murmured. “You didn’t have to do that. We don’t know each other well.” She swallowed as Esme’s chocolate eyes speered her own. Her mouth was becoming dry and she really needed to drink…. something. A thought occurred to her. “Wait. You were watching me at school?” Esme chuckled and reached out to clasp Lilith’s hand in her own. Her thumb caressed over Lilith’s soft skin and the Shelby girl’s pulse jumped.

      “You didn’t think George Kimber was the only person who fancied you, did you?” Esme shifted a little bit closer. “You’re a very beautiful girl, Lilith.”

      “But-.”

      “I thought you might have been interested in me that day I caught you staring.” Esme began to pull away, looking uncomfortable and a little bit hurt. “I’m sorry if I was mistaken.”

      “No Esme.” Lilith reached for Esme’s hand again. “You weren’t mistaken. I just didn’t think you’d like my attention. You’re so, so-” She struggled to find the word, “...breath-taking.” The two girls were huddled close together now and Esme reached up to tuck a stray hair of Lilith’s behind her ear. They beamed at each other giddily.

      “Can I kiss you?” Esme whispered suddenly into the space between them. Lilith shyly nodded before Esme’s soft warm lips brushed against Lilith’s and her breath hitched. Her heart pounded and she blushed, absolutely certain that the Lee girl could hear it. Lilith grew bold and kissed Esme more firmly. Esme leaned in, warm sparks tingling in both the girl’s lips and faces. They pulled back a moment later and smiled.

*****

The Lees lent Lilith a horse and she returned to small heath. She hummed happily as she slid off the white stallion and handed him over to Uncle Charlie with strict instructions to allow the horse to leave the way it had come after it had eaten.  She slipped back into the house and skilfully avoided Polly and Ada’s awaiting interrogation.

      “He won’t bother me again.” Lilith smiled. “I’ll explain in the morning.” She was firm, even when they pressed her for more details. It wasn’t until she was lying in bed, humming herself to sleep that she felt it. Her fingers reached up to caress Esme’s velvet ribbon tied around her throat…a promise between two young girls. She smiled as sleep carried her away. The world was wonderful again.

[call-sign-shark]

Eeehhh what the hell? It was amazing. What an interesting idea to explore your character’s childhood. It’s always fascinating to see the complex dynamics that constitutes the Shelby clan but damn, this is a whole other level and I loved every words of your work. I could only emphasize with Lilith when that dumb Kimber boy asked her out and she froze. Nevertheless I must admit that I LOVED the description of Lilith’s onyx eyes shining on the glass, it was as poetic as a bit chilling. Definitely suiting your great character. Moreover onyx eyes are such an original complexion for an oc. She was definitely caught off guard and that dumbass didn’t even realize it, too convinced no one can say no to him. 🙄 You’ve crafted a very efficient claustrophobic settings in the cinema scene — see can definitely feel as bad as Lilith. Also I just adored the sentence “rats on her skin”. Such a great image who speaks thousands of words. Which lead us to the restaurant scene… I CANT BREATHE. Really I laughed sm at the description of George Kimber, his sloppiness and the fact he looked like a dog 🤣. Thanks God Esme intervened. As much a bastard as his dad this boy is.

Now, really: ALL THE ESME PART. The two of them dancing in the moonlight and kissing in the vardo. Do you want to kill me? I love love love their relationship. I’ve been waiting so long for someone to pair an oc or reader insert with Esme and here you came, doing God’s work. Everything is so soft about this two — if Jack wasn’t there they would be my top one couple. Good job, Chaos!

[fablesfolklore]

Thank you @call-sign-shark . I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. I'll be exploring more of Lilith's childhood adventures as well because I just feel like she will have gotten up to loads of mischief. I LOVE her onyx eyes. And I think they go well mirroring Heavens crystalline ones. I think they'll make great sisters in law. The Kimber boy was absolutely such a pig like his father.....such an entitled little boy. And Same saved the fucking day! I think she's an underrated character and I love her. I'm glad you like Lilith's chosen childhood sweetheart. I may write more for them in Lilith's timeline in future.

[fablesfolklore]

Jealous Man

TW: Sexual Themes, Bad Language, Violence.

The characters of Scarlet and Heaven belong exclusively to @zablife and @call-sign-shark.

This is Part 1 of a Series on the Seven Deadly Sins.

Summary: Jack doesn't like the way Billy Grade has been looking at his beloved Lilith.

“Do you consider yourself to be a jealous man, Mister Grade?” Jack asks softly. His voice is low and hypnotic, reverberating through Billy as he stares up at the man standing over him with a garrotte around his balls. “Not possessive? Not prone to bouts of passion?” Jack presses him as he maintains control of the sharp wire digging into Billy’s genitals. Billy, desperate and whimpering from the pain but unable to find words shook his head in the negative, praying to some higher power that the American would cease his torturous ministrations. Jack sighed at Billy’s response. “Then you’ve never been in love.” He stated reverently as he thought of Lilith. That took Billy by surprise. “You’ve been pining for someone, haven’t you Mister Grade?” Jack’s eyes bore coldly into Billy’s “Someone who isn’t yours.” Jack’s accent dripped with green possessiveness, the very prospect of Billy looking at Lilith, sending him into a fit of rage. Billy, victim to the dark expression on Jack’s features shook his head desperately, thinking only of making the pain stop.

     “No. No. I don’t kno-.”

     “Don’t fuckin’ lie to me!” Jack snarled, twisting Billy’s wrist and relishing in the crunching sound as it snapped. “You know exactly who we’re discussing. How could ya not?”

     “Lili-”

     “Get her name out of your filthy fuckin’ mouth.” Jack scowled. He hated it. He fucking hated it. When he’d seen the traitor staring at Lilith all the damned way through that pointless black tie event his pathetic brother in law had conned him into attending, he’d made up his mind to end Mister Grade’s life for good.

     “She’s Mister Shelby’s sister. I would never.”

     “But you want her…. I saw the way you watched her.” Not that he could blame the man in front of him. His wife was stunning; she’d looked like a goddess in that form fitting black velvet gown she’d worn. And then she’d charmed all those stuck up aristocrats with that delectable dark humour and intelligence of hers. He’d been so fucking proud that she was his wife. He shouldn’t have been jealous of Grade looking at his wife. but he couldn’t help it. He was. The green rage clawed at his chest and ate away at his insides at the prospect of Grade somehow catching Lilith’s eye. The terror that Lilith would take her love away from him and lavish it on someone else made him inconsolable. And the only thing that could fix his mood was this.

     “I swear I won’t look at her ever again.” Billy pleaded, the whininess of his voice grated on Jack’s ears. What did Grade have to complain about? He’d brought this on himself. Did he actually think that Jack wanted to be here, doing this? Perhaps Mister Grade shoulda thought about that before he’d desired someone he shouldn’t have. “Just please.” Billy begged pathetically. “Please make it stop.” He foolishly places his good hand on Jack’s shoulder and Jack recoiled, pushing Billy away so he stumbled to the floor. Jack had been so consumed with his jealous outburst that he hadn’t heard the clicking of heels grow louder on the tiles as she approached. He didn’t smell her intoxicating scent of pomegranate and dark amber until she stood behind him. Billy’s eyes widened as he sighted Lilith before looking at the floor in fear for his life. He made quite the picture, naked and bloody and marinating in shame. Lilith didn’t even look at him. She was too busy looking at Jack. Perhaps she should have been surprised. But she wasn't. On the contrary, Scarlet had warned her this would happen. Her beloved sister had confided that she'd noticed her brother in law's behaviour and sudden absences during and after social occasions....and Heaven had gleefully pointed out that there was always a gentleman, or two, who either went missing or never returned to the party....only to be found in unrecognisable chunks the following day. Lilith should have been appalled. But she was a Shelby....instead, Jack's psychotic protectiveness caused her heart to grow three sizes. He spun to see her and he didn’t need to ask how long she’d been there to know from her expression that she’d observed the better half of Billy’s inquisition. She thought it was adorable how she could make Jack look like a deer in headlights.

      “There’s no need for jealousy, Mister Nelson.” She reached for him and he came to her, snaking his arms around her cinched waist. She looked up at him. “Jealousy implies that you’ve not already claimed me.” She cupped his cheek. “Am I not now known as Mrs Nelson?” He closed his eyes at her question and smiled. 

     “Damn straight you are, pussycat.” He gazed into her onyx eyes, hypnotised. She was like magic. Powerful and wicked and everything he could have dreamed of. Lilith caressed her thumb over the scar on his lip. Jack leaned into her touch, kissing the palm of her hand.

     “There’s no one but you, Jack.” She whispered to him and he melted against her. He pressed his forehead to hers, nudging his nose against hers in an affectionate eskimo kiss. His gloved hand ran along her curves as he held her to him. “But,” She paused, licking her lips. “If this,” She gestured to Billy, still victim to the wire wrapped around his genitals. She felt herself growing wet at the thought that Jack, her Jack - the most dangerous man in the world - had done this for her. She rubbed her thighs together and leaned closer to her husband. “is what you need to do in order to reassure yourself.” She pecked his lips with her own. “Then have at it, my love.” She stepped away, leaving his embrace and taking with her the warmth he had been basking in. She looked at Billy, who stared up at her pleadingly as though she was some kind of angel of mercy.

Besides, coveting me is the least of your sins, little spy.

Billy’s eyes widened in terror as if he’d heard her thought and his whimpers of panic rose to an annoying volume once again. Lilith rolled her eyes and stepped away, moving along to sit further down on one of the benches until she’d found her perfect view. This was probably the best death Billy could wish for. Jack would only torture him out of his needless jealousy. He looked so beautiful, she thought, towering over the traitor and unleashing that monster he’d so often held back as of later. Tommy would torture Billy for his treachery…as well as for coveting Lilith. Really, this was the lesser of two evils. Billy howled in agony, the sound was bloodcurdling as his genitals were completely severed from him.

     “Thou shalt not covet another man’s wife.” Jack growled. “Look at her!” He commanded, grabbing Billy’s face and forcefully angling the traitor to look at Lilith. She stared at Jack, her breath quickening when his eyes locked with her in a predatory manner. The room was suddenly stifling as his lustful expression burned through her. “You can’t have her, Grade. You could never handle her…. Not like I can.” Jack released Billy’s head and he fell to the floor, shaking and crying, his head impacting with the tiles beneath them. It seemed as if it would go on forever, Billy Grade’s pained noises grew numb in her ears after a while, and Jack’s knuckles grew bloody.  

      “That’s enough now, my darling.” She spoke so softly. So delicately that if she had been anyone else Jack wouldn’t have heard her. But it was Lilith, and her voice tore through him like a hurricane.

      Lilith watched with doe eyes as Jack finished Billy Grade off, the man’s cries of agony finally halting, his body twitched before ceasing to move and his eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling. Jack unwrapped the garrotte and wiped it on Billy’s towel before pocketing it. He stood, calm and predatory as he relished in the aftermath. A stone cold predator.

I adore you.

Jack looked up at her, his eyes carnivorous….and Lilith relished that these were the only moments she would ever allow herself to be the prey. He stalked towards her and her heart stuttered. She allowed him to push her against the wall, his hand wrapping around her throat in a way that made her knees weak. His lips claimed hers in a frenzy and she mewled into him. Lilith snaked her hands up his arms to push Jack’s coat from his shoulders. He released her for a moment, allowing the heavy fabric to fall to the floor. His lips attacked her neck, littering them with electric love bites, purple, red and blue. She cupped the back of his neck, her fingers delving into his beautiful soft hair and tugging it back ever so slightly. The noise he made was divine, the deep reverberation of the sound settling pleasantly between her thighs. He reached up and took her wrists in one of his hands, pinning them to the wall above her head as his fingers hiked up her skirt and delved beneath the fabric. Lilith smirked up at him when she felt him tear the fabric of her underwear, his long thick fingers delving into her without a second thought.

     “Look at me, keep your fucking eyes on me.” He commanded, calm and controlled as ever when she closed her eyes at the delight she was experiencing. Her onyx eyes snapped open and collided with his. The only show of the effect she had on him was the sharp intake of his breath and the tent in his trousers as he continued to play her like a violin. Her own breath hitched when he released her wrists and she watched him slowly sink to his knees, lifting her leg over his shoulder. Jack buried his face between Lilith’s thighs and she threw her head back, hand cupping his head as he made her see stars.  Billy’s corpse witnessed Jack make love to his wife over and over and over again.

*****

God he loved his little demon so fucking much. He stared, transfixed at her angelic beauty as she clenched around him, her face contorting in a way that tested the limit of his self-restraint. Sharing his life with her was joy, loving her was the most exquisite carnage. She was Paradise and killing for her was bliss. She cried out, digging her claws into him as she pulled him closer to her….as close as they could be and it still never felt close enough. She bit his earlobe teasingly, whispering to him just how good he made her feel, how much she loved him.

     “Look at me, angel.” Jack tugged her hair, arching her head back just enough to take her lips with his own as she clenched around him one final time. Her onyx eyes pierced into his own hypnotic and wanton. “Fuck, angel. No one makes me feel like you do.” His hips stuttered as he found his own release. She pulled back, biting hard into his neck and his pleasure skyrocketed. Lilith embraced him, caressing his back as she felt him relax on top of her. She peppered his forehead with sweet kisses and hissed when he gently retreated from her. Jack looked at her adoringly and pulled her into his side as he settled beside her. Their clothes were strewn everywhere and Billy Grade’s still bleeding corpse was witness to them from the corner of the room. Lilith hummed, contented.

They lay in the aftermath, bodies painted in blood and entwined on the steam room floor. Her head lay against his broad chest and he caressed the skin of her back tenderly whilst placing kisses on her forehead. Lilith shifted, twisting her body into a more comfortable position so she could look at him. Her dark hair framed her face enticingly as she rested her chin on his chest, admiring him. Her dark eyes glimmered with excitement as her finger brushed over the bite mark she’d imprinted onto Jack’s neck. Her own brand. He groaned when she brushed her finger over it, flipping them over so he hovered above her, resting between her thighs once again. She’d bitten him so hard she’d broken the skin. There would be scarring, not that he minded of course. She smiled at him seductively, his blood staining the corners of her lips. He leaned in for more, thrusting inside of her once again.

    “Jack….” She whined in delight, gazing up at him in a way that had his heart hammering against his ribs. The cosmic love swirling in her onyx eyes seemed to consume him and his control snapped, hammering into her. Jack would allow his demoness to do whatever the fuck she wanted to him, so long as she loved only him for the rest of their lives.

Which sin would you like to see next

Sloth

Pride

Wrath

Gluttony

Greed

Lust

Voting ended onOct 22, 2023

[zablife]

@chaosinkest1996 Darling, what an amazing portrayal of jealous Jack!! I loved the unhinged depiction of him at his worst. It makes sense that he would be feeling vulnerable during this time tho and he would lash out. I loved Lilith's reaction and her reassurance to him as he wavered. And the smut was *chef's kiss* It suites them to be so passionate after a brutal killing. And I love your idea of the 7 deadly sins. I think you should tackle lust next!!

[fablesfolklore]

Thank you so much @zablife I'm so happy you enjoyed it. Inspired entirely by our beloved Jack's encounter with Billy Grade in series 6. Lilith is 100% a psycho and I'm so proud of her. I just feel like Jack would be the jealous type (even though he has no one to be jealous of). They're so adorable together.

[fablesfolklore]

Jealous Man

TW: Violence, Bad Language, Sex

The Characters of Scarlet and Heaven belong to @zablife and @call-sign-shark. @zablife's 2K spooky celebration has inspired me to do my own spooky collection of writing based on the seven deadly sins. This is my take on Envy. Sorry for the repost, it needed some editing.

Summary: Jack Nelson doesn't like the way Billy Grade has been looking at his wife.

“Do you consider yourself to be a jealous man, Mister Grade?” Jack asks softly. His voice is low and hypnotic, reverberating through Billy as he stares up at the man standing over him with a garrotte around his balls. “Not possessive? Not prone to bouts of passion?” Jack presses him as he maintains control of the sharp wire digging into Billy’s genitals. Billy, desperate and whimpering from the pain but unable to find words shook his head in the negative, praying to some higher power that the American would cease his torturous ministrations. Jack sighed at Billy’s response. “Then you’ve never been in love.” He stated reverently as he thought of Lilith. That took Billy by surprise. “You’ve been pining for someone, haven’t you Mister Grade?” Jack’s eyes bore coldly into Billy’s “Someone who isn’t yours.” Jack’s accent dripped with green possessiveness, the very prospect of Billy looking at Lilith, sending him into a fit of rage. Billy, victim to the dark expression on Jack’s features shook his head desperately, thinking only of making the pain stop.

“No. No. I don’t kno-.”

     “Don’t fuckin’ lie to me!” Jack snarled, twisting Billy’s wrist and relishing in the crunching sound as it snapped. “You know exactly who we’re discussing. How could ya not?”

     “Lili-”

     “Get her name out of your filthy fuckin’ mouth.” Jack scowled. He hated it. He fucking hated it. When he’d seen the traitor staring at Lilith all the damned way through that pointless black tie event his pathetic brother in law had conned him into attending, he’d made up his mind to end Mister Grade’s life for good.

     “She’s Mister Shelby’s sister. I would never.”

     “But you want her…. I saw the way you watched her.” Not that he could blame the man in front of him. His wife was stunning; she’d looked like a goddess in that form fitting black velvet gown she’d worn. And then she’d charmed all those stuck up aristocrats with that delectable dark humour and intelligence of hers. He’d been so fucking proud that she was his wife. He shouldn’t have been jealous of Grade looking at his wife. but he couldn’t help it. He was. The green rage clawed at his chest and ate away at his insides at the prospect of Grade somehow catching Lilith’s eye. The terror that Lilith would take her love away from him and lavish it on someone else made him inconsolable. And the only thing that could fix his mood was this.

     “I swear I won’t look at her ever again.” Billy pleaded, the whininess of his voice grated on Jack’s ears. What did Grade have to complain about? He’d brought this on himself. Did he actually think that Jack wanted to be here, doing this? Perhaps Mister Grade shoulda thought about that before he’d desired someone he shouldn’t have. “Just please,” Billy begged pathetically. “Please make it stop.” He foolishly places his good hand on Jack’s shoulder and Jack recoiled, pushing Billy away so he stumbled to the floor. Jack had been so consumed with his jealous outburst that he hadn’t heard the clicking of heels grow louder on the tiles as she approached. He didn’t smell her intoxicating scent of pomegranate and dark amber until she stood behind him. Billy’s eyes widened as he sighted Lilith before looking at the floor in fear for his life. He made quite the picture, naked and bloody and marinating in shame. Lilith didn’t even look at him. She was too busy looking at Jack. Perhaps she should have been surprised. But she wasn't. On the contrary, Scarlet had warned her this would happen. Her beloved sister had confided that she'd noticed her brother-in-law's behavior and sudden absences during and after social occasions....and Heaven had gleefully pointed out that there was always a gentleman, or two, who either went missing or never returned to the party....only to be found in unrecognizable chunks the following day. Lilith should have been appalled. But she was a Shelby....instead, Jack's psychotic protectiveness caused her heart to grow three sizes. He spun to see her and he didn’t need to ask how long she’d been there to know from her expression that she’d observed the better half of Billy’s inquisition. She thought it was adorable how she could make Jack look like a deer in headlights.

      “There’s no need for jealousy, Mister Nelson.” She reached for him and he came to her, snaking his arms around her cinched waist. She looked up at him. “Jealousy implies that you’ve not already claimed me.” She cupped his cheek. “Am I not now known as Mrs Nelson?” He closed his eyes at her question and smiled. 

     “Damn straight you are, pussycat.” He gazed into her onyx eyes, hypnotised. She was like magic. Powerful and wicked and everything he could have dreamed of. Lilith caressed her thumb over the scar on his lip. Jack leaned into her touch, kissing the palm of her hand.

     “There’s no one but you, Jack.” She whispered to him and he melted against her. He pressed his forehead to hers, nudging his nose against hers in an affectionate Eskimo kiss. His gloved hand ran along her curves as he held her to him. “But,” She paused, licking her lips. “If this,” She gestured to Billy, still victim to the wire wrapped around his genitals. She felt herself growing wet at the thought that Jack, her Jack - the most dangerous man in the world - had done this for her. She rubbed her thighs together and leaned closer to her husband. “is what you need to do in order to reassure yourself.” She pecked his lips with her own. “Then have at it, my love.” She stepped away, leaving his embrace and taking with her the warmth he had been basking in. She looked at Billy, who stared up at her pleadingly as though she was some kind of angel of mercy.

Besides, coveting me is the least of your sins, little spy.

Billy’s eyes widened in terror as if he’d heard her thought and his whimpers of panic rose to an annoying volume once again. Lilith rolled her eyes and stepped away, moving along to sit further down on one of the benches until she’d found her perfect view. This was probably the best death Billy could wish for. Jack would only torture him out of his needless jealousy. He looked so beautiful, she thought, towering over the traitor and unleashing that monster he’d so often held back as of later. Tommy would torture Billy for his treachery…as well as for coveting Lilith. Really, this was the lesser of two evils. Billy howled in agony, the sound was bloodcurdling as his genitals were completely severed from him.

     “Thou shalt not covet another man’s wife,” Jack growled. “Look at her!” He commanded, grabbing Billy’s face and forcefully angling the traitor to look at Lilith. She stared at Jack, her breath quickening when his eyes locked with her in a predatory manner. The room was suddenly stifling as his lustful expression burned through her. “You can’t have her, Grade. You could never love her…. Not like I can.” Jack released Billy’s head and he fell to the floor, shaking and crying, his head impacting with the tiles beneath them. It seemed as if it would go on forever, Billy Grade’s pained noises grew numb in her ears after a while, and Jack’s knuckles grew bloody.  

      “That’s enough now, my darling.” She spoke so softly. So delicately that if she had been anyone else Jack wouldn’t have heard her. But it was Lilith, and her voice tore through him like a hurricane.

      Lilith watched with doe eyes as Jack finished Billy Grade off, the man’s cries of agony finally halting, his body twitched before ceasing to move and his eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling. Jack unwrapped the garrotte and wiped it on Billy’s towel before pocketing it. He stood, calm and predatory as he relished in the aftermath. A stone cold predator.

I adore you.

Jack looked up at her, his eyes carnivorous….and Lilith relished that these were the only moments she would ever allow herself to be the prey. He stalked towards her and her heart stuttered. She allowed him to push her against the wall, his hand wrapping around her throat in a way that made her knees weak. His lips claimed hers in a frenzy and she mewled into him. Lilith snaked her hands up his arms to push Jack’s coat from his shoulders. He released her for a moment, allowing the heavy fabric to fall to the floor. His lips attacked her neck, littering them with electric love bites, purple, red and blue. She cupped the back of his neck, her fingers delving into his beautiful soft hair and tugging it back ever so slightly. The noise he made was divine, the deep reverberation of the sound settling pleasantly between her thighs. He reached up and took her wrists in one of his hands, pinning them to the wall above her head as his fingers hiked up her skirt and delved beneath the fabric. Lilith smirked up at him when she felt him tear the fabric of her underwear, his long thick fingers delving into her without a second thought.

     “Look at me, keep your fucking eyes on me.” He commanded, calm and controlled as ever when she closed her eyes at the delight she was experiencing. Her onyx eyes snapped open and collided with his. The only show of the effect she had on him was the sharp intake of his breath and the tent in his trousers as he continued to play her like a violin. Her own breath hitched when he released her wrists and she watched him slowly sink to his knees, lifting her leg over his shoulder. Jack buried his face between Lilith’s thighs and she threw her head back, hand cupping his head as he made her see stars.  Billy’s corpse witnessed Jack make love to his wife over and over and over again.

*****

God he loved his little demon so fucking much. He stared, transfixed at her angelic beauty as she clenched around him, her face contorting in a way that tested the limit of his self-restraint. Sharing his life with her was joy, loving her was the most exquisite carnage. She was Paradise and killing for her was bliss. She cried out, digging her claws into him as she pulled him closer to her….as close as they could be and it still never felt close enough. She bit his earlobe teasingly, whispering to him just how good he made her feel, how much she loved him.

     “Look at me, angel.” Jack tugged her hair, arching her head back just enough to take her lips with his own as she clenched around him one final time. Her onyx eyes pierced into his own hypnotic and wanton. “Fuck, angel. No one makes me feel like you do.” His hips stuttered as he found his own release. She pulled back, biting hard into his neck and his pleasure skyrocketed. Lilith embraced him, caressing his back as she felt him relax on top of her. She peppered his forehead with sweet kisses and hissed when he gently retreated from her. Jack looked at her adoringly and pulled her into his side as he settled beside her. Their clothes were strewn everywhere and Billy Grade’s still bleeding corpse was witness to them from the corner of the room. Lilith hummed, contented.

They lay in the aftermath, bodies painted in blood and entwined on the steam room floor. Her head lay against his broad chest and he caressed the skin of her back tenderly whilst placing kisses on her forehead. Lilith shifted, twisting her body into a more comfortable position so she could look at him. Her dark hair framed her face enticingly as she rested her chin on his chest, admiring him. Her dark eyes glimmered with excitement as her finger brushed over the bite mark she’d imprinted onto Jack’s neck. Her own brand. He groaned when she brushed her finger over it, flipping them over so he hovered above her, resting between her thighs once again. She’d bitten him so hard she’d broken the skin. There would be scarring, not that he minded of course. She smiled at him seductively, his blood staining the corners of her lips. He leaned in for more, thrusting inside of her once again.

    “Jack….” She whined in delight, gazing up at him in a way that had his heart hammering against his ribs. The cosmic love swirling in her onyx eyes seemed to consume him and his control snapped, hammering into her. Jack would allow his demoness to do whatever the fuck she wanted to him, so long as she loved only him for the rest of their lives.

[fablesfolklore]

First Kiss

Summary: This is one of Lilith Rose Shelby's firsts. One of her childhood/Teenage experiences/adventures. A boy from school wants to take Lilith to the picture house, but she's not sure if she wants to go with him....because she likes someone else.

TW: Underage. Kissing. Violence.

The year was 1915.

It was quieter these days as Lilith walked home from school. The men had gone to war a year ago and as such the women had taken on their roles as breadwinners. The streets were quieter and that only made the noise, when it did come, seem louder. It was warm. One of the warmest summers she’d ever experienced. Her cotton shirt clung to her skin annoyingly and beads of sweat gathered at her temples. She’d grown a lot this last year. At fourteen her figure was slowly shedding its childishness and becoming more womanly. Her hair, now shoulder length shone black like a raven’s feathers in the golden sunlight. She must have been the only person in small heath who seemed at ease. She was happy…and that made most people uncomfortable. There was a war on. Surely she should be worried. Her sunny disposition, however, had engaged the attention of a boy at school. George Kimber was only a year older than Lilith. He was handsome…or so the other girls at school said as much. Lilith wasn’t bothered. At least, not at first. Up until George, she’d only ever looked at girls. She used to stare at Esme Lee a lot, fascinated by her. One day the gypsy girl caught her looking and Lilith blushed before stalking ahead of her and pretending it hadn’t happened. After that Lilith became more guarded with who she looked at and who she acknowledged. She kept herself to herself. which was why Lilith was taken aback when George Kimber swaggered up to her in the schoolyard that very afternoon and asked her if she would go on a date with him to the picture house. Ever confident, like his father, he’d taken her startled expression and silence as a ‘yes’, smiling and winking at her before returning to his school friends. And now here she was on the way home from school, questioning whether or not she actually wanted to go.

     Rounding the corner and onto Watery Lane Lilith smiled when she saw Finn and Ada stood at the door waiting for her. Finn squealed when he saw his sister and ran towards her. Lilith laughed at his fast waddle and wrapped her arms around him when he barrelled into her boyishly. He almost winded her.

      “Careful Finn!” Ada called. “You’ll knock her over one of these days.” Finn smiled toothily up at his sister mischievously as she ruffled his hair. She had a sneaky suspicion that that was the game. The two siblings walked the rest of the way hand in hand. Ada smiled and ushered them inside.

     “Good day at school?” She asked.

     “Not sure, really.”

     “What happened? No one’s been bullying you again I hope.” Ada frowned as she led them into the kitchen and closed the doors to what had once been the betting shop.

     “A boy asked me to go out with him.”      “Oooh!” Ada gasped, delighted. “What boy? What’s his name?”

     “George Kimber.” Lilith dropped her bag on the kitchen table, rifling through it for her homework. Ada’s face fell.

     “Billy Kimber’s boy?”

     “One in the same.”

     “What did you say?” Ada asked nervously.

     “That’s the problem.” Lilith sighed as she slumped into the kitchen chair. “I didn’t.”

     “You didn’t what?”

     “Say anything.”

     “Pardon?” Ada tucked her hair behind her ear and crossed her arms.

     “It all took me by surprise. I was just reading in the school yard and he ran up to me, asked me to go out with him. I was so stunned and…. confused.” Lilith pored herself a glass of water.

     “Confused?”

    “Yes. I’ve never really noticed him before. I mean, I have noticed him. I know who he is. I’ve just never looked at him the way most of the other girls have looked at him.” She took a sip. “So I didn’t say anything…or rather I didn’t have much time to think about it before he took my lack of an answer for a ‘yes’ and walked off.”

       “Bloody typical. He sounds a little entitled. Well, like father like son, I suppose.” Ada scoffed. “You know; Billy Kimber hasn’t even gone to the front. Fucking coward.” Lilith ignored that line. She knew it must have been bad that Billy Kimber had somehow wormed his way away from being conscripted to the front…but secretly she was jealous of George. She wanted Tommy home.

Why did Billy Kimber get to stay if Tommy had to go? Selfish bastard.

Lilith swallowed her resentment and looked at Ada pleadingly.

     “Now I don’t know what to do.” Ada took the seat beside her sister.

     “Would you like to go out with him?” Lilith leaned back and thought about it for a few moments. All the other girls at school liked him and said he was handsome…. or as handsome as a boy could be at the age of fifteen. But Lilith herself didn’t exactly think he was an oil painting. He was obnoxious as well, over confident and bullish towards their peers.

      “No.” She decided. “But I suppose I’ll have to.”

      “You don’t have to do anything.” Lilith considered the prospect of turning him down tomorrow at school and cringed. No, that would be horrific. He’d be humiliated, everyone would talk about it. Lilith did not want to be held responsible for making her family enemies with the Kimber’s.

      “I know. But I don’t want to hurt him. I’ll pay him the respect of pretending to consider him as a potential suitor.” Lilith joked. “And I’ll let him down at gently after a nice evening. Besides, who knows. We might even make friends.” Ada didn’t look too convinced.

      “Lilith, sometimes you can be too nice. You don’t have to-.”

      “I know.” Lilith snapped. “But I’ve made up my mind.” She took out her workbook and began to ignore her sister. “You can go now, Ada.” Lilith didn’t like the description Ada had given her. Nice? When the fuck had she ever been described as nice? Nice was a word used to describe the mousy, shy girl at the end of the street. Nice was a word used to describe a dinner cooked well enough by someone who had cooked it a thousand times over. Nice was a word used to describe a cottage in the boredom of the English countryside. Nice was not a word used to describe Lilith Rose Shelby.

Ada scowled at her sister’s dismissal, grabbed a magazine and stalked out of the room.

*****

Polly was downstairs pacing. She had not been best pleased when the two sisters had informed her of Lilith’s impending date. It certainly didn’t help that the potential target was a Kimber. Tommy would be livid. Lilith could relate to her aunt’s anger. Of course it would be different if the men were not at war. Tommy and Arthur would for sure have put a stop to it and John would have threatened the ginger haired lout to within an inch of his life.

     “You’re not going out with that boy!”

     “I think you’ll find that I am.”

     “You don’t even want to go.”

     “That’s beside the point.”

     “Seriously?! You’re worried about his feelings?!”

     “On the contrary. I’m doing this for-?”

     “For what?!”

     “Us!” Polly scoffed and Lilith picked up a book and threw it at her. “He’s Billy fucking Kimber’s boy!”

     “Language!” snapped Ada.

     “Don’t be a hypocrite Ada.” Polly snarked at her.

     “If I humiliated him then I’d have made us a target for Kimber in the future. There’s no one here to defend us.” Polly had grumbled but reluctantly agreed and now Lilith stood in front of the looking glass as Ada finished pinning her hair. Polly had altered one of her mother’s red dresses for her to wear. She stared at her reflection curiously. It stared back.

     “You look pretty.” Ada whispered when she’d finished.

     “Do I?” She asked. Is that why he’d asked her to go out with him? Because she was nice to look at. It must have been. He’d never even had a proper conversation with her. He didn’t know that she was intelligent or cunning and sly enough to kill him without anyone knowing that it was she who had done it. Her reflection smirked coldly back at her through the looking glass, onyx eyes twinkling wickedly. If he just wanted a pretty doll then that’s what he’d get…a beautiful, terrifying little doll who by the end of the evening would have scared him away from her and all women for the rest of his life. Polly caught eyes with her through the looking glass and smiled.

     “There’s the Lilith I know.”

*****

He was a floppy haired idiot. It waved around his ears like some kind of spaniel as he walked with her towards the picture house. Her small gloved hand was locked tightly in the crook of his arm and she was starting to get pins and needles in her fingers. She clutched her clutch bag closer to her. She’d done all the right things. Smiled, giggled, taken all of his condescending little compliments on how pretty she looked and how lovely she looked on his arm. Either he wasn’t very bright or he just didn’t care both were bad signs. The only moment he’d conjured up a genuine smile from her was when he had presented her with a ticket for a Charlie Chaplin film. She sat beside him in the theatre, savouring her popcorn and resisting the urge to kick him in the shin as he loudly crunched on his at the speed of sound.

What a pig.

The film started and her shoulders dropped in relief when he ceased inhaling his popcorn. She was enjoying it. Charlie Chaplin was hilarious and very clever. When Thomas had taken the family to see him in London she’d thought he was fabulously entertaining. Not to mention rather handsome beneath all that stage makeup. It had been one of the last times the whole family had laughed properly. His success in the film making business pleased her. A laugh bubbled inside her before she froze. Lilith immediately became very aware of George’s arm around her shoulder. She stiffened directly when his fingertips brushed against her bare arm. An unpleasant shudder shot through her and she closed her eyes for a moment fighting every urge to flinch away. The theatre abruptly appeared to shrink and it felt like they were the only two people in the room. except they weren’t. when she peeked out of the corner of her eye, Lilith was aware that there were people everywhere. When the film finally came to an end Lilith stood quickly, turning to address George.

     “If you’ll please excuse me. I need to use the facilities.” She didn’t even look at him. Her eyes darted around him, refusing to make eye contact. Her stomach churned as she turned from him and scampered off without giving him a moment to respond. She disappeared out the back of the theatre and into the ladies’ lavatory. Closing the bathroom stall she opened her eyes and took a moment to gather herself.

What is the matter with you?!

Lilith had no idea. All she could think about was the rats that scuttled across her skin when he touched her. Had it been accidental? She frowned. No. If it had been he would have surely apologised.  She tried to think, to distract herself. What had happened in the last six minutes of the film? Surely he would ask her what she’d enjoyed the most about it. Alas, everything about the film had blurred when he’d touched her.

Get a grip, Shelby. The sooner you get on with this, the sooner it’ll be over.

Lilith exited the stall, marching out of the toilets with fresh determination. The floppy haired fool was waiting for her in the picture house restaurant. He smiled at her, but it didn’t look like a smile to Lilith. Instead it looked more like a sneer. He passed her a Coca-Cola in a glass bottle and she sat down in the booth opposite him. She sipped her beverage silently. She watched his lips move, alas he did not ask her what she liked about the short film. In fact, he didn’t ask her anything. Just talked at her. His lips moved, forming words ceaselessly, but she wasn’t listening. It was all just noise to her. The horrible part came when he abruptly got up and slid into the booth beside her. Lilith shifted away slightly, looking to give herself a little bit of space. George shifted with her. He leaned towards her, reaching a hand out to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. Lilith, uncomfortable with how close he was to her, sat stock still, hoping that he’d pull back. He didn’t. It was when his nose brushed against hers that she realised what he wanted. She recoiled.

Absolutely not.

Lilith’s fingers fumbled with the clasp on her clutch bag. Before George could even press his lips against Lilith’s she felt him freeze when he heard the clicking of a gun as she cocked the hammer and pressed it against his groin. He pulled back a little to look at her in disdain, his features twisting hideously in anger.

    “Move away from me please.” Lilith smiled as politely as she could. Her pearly teeth on display, glistening like weapons in the lamplight. “I don’t want to kiss you.”

    “No one says no to me. I’m Billy Kimber’s son.” She didn’t know why that made her laugh. But it did. It bubbled inside of her like something hot and poisonous. What was he trying to achieve? The audacity she had to both reject him and to laugh at him must have flabbergasted him because the expression of absolute shock on her face in the seconds before it twisted into something more sinister caused the laugh inside of her to bubble to the surface and she let out a vindictive little giggle.

     “That attitude won’t get you anywhere, Georgie.” She laughed. “You really are an entitled little brat, aren’t you? You can’t handle it when someone says ‘no’.”

      “You little gypsy slut!” He snapped at her, before lunging at her. He wrapped one strong hand around her wrist, squeezing it painfully in an attempt to get her to drop the gun. She held tight, determined not to let go. She knew this was a bad idea. Is this what he did with other girls he took out? Is this what would happen if they also rejected him? She didn’t have time to ask as he wrapped his other hand around her throat and squeezed. She spluttered and coughed, trying to wriggle away from his as fast as she could. But in spite of how lanky he was, he was very strong. It frustrated her as she grew lightheaded. She gripped the hand around her neck and dug her nails into his flesh. The boy gritted his teeth but refused to let go. She was beginning to fear that the last thing she’d ever see was his face when something incredible happened. A band of red bloomed out of nowhere, a beautiful velvet ribbon. She watched, transfixed as delicate fingers wrapped the ribbon around George’s neck and squeezed mercilessly. The boy instantly released his grip on her, his hands flying to the ribbon crushing his Adam's apple. As Lilith’s vision cleared and became less blurry, her eyes locked with Esme Lee’s. The Shelby girl blushed and sat upright, steadying herself against the table.

      “Are you ok?” Esme’s sweet voice rang in her ears. Lilith nodded and Esme released George from her grip. Esme scowled down at the ginger-haired boy and snapped at him. “I think this date is over George. Go home to Daddy now and leave her alone if you know what's good for you.” stepped out of his way and Lilith nearly choked on a laugh as he bolted for the exit door. They watched him leave.

       “Thank you,” Lilith murmured, looking down as she tremblingly returned her gun to her clutch bag. She looked up and found Esme staring at her. “What?”

       “You’re too pretty to go out with him.”

       “Oh.” Lilith licked her lips, nervous. She hadn’t been expecting the compliment. She blushed and said the first thing she could think of. “You’re pretty too.” Esme laughed and offered Lilith her hand.

      “Come on. Let’s get out of here and have some real fun.” Lilith looked at her proffered hand for a moment and felt her heart flutter. The red ribbon Esme had used to strangle George was now tied around a braid in her hair. Lilith was taken aback at just how beautiful Esme really looked. She took Esme’s warm hand with her own and the Lee girl’s fingers hugged her own. The two of them ran off into the evening without looking back.

*****

Lilith laughed. She couldn’t believe her luck.  She was dancing around a large bonfire, under a starry sky. Hand in hand with wilful, wild Esme Lee. Lilith couldn’t bring herself to look away from the girl before her. Esme’s hair fluttered in the breeze, the red ribbon in her hair standing out in the warmth of the firelight. Her eyes sparkled with joy and laughter. Her laugh was girlish and carefree, the tone of it caressing the inside of Lilith’s ears. Everytime Esme had spoken, Lilith had felt herself become warm and breathless. Esme’s skirt dances in the breeze, the embroidered flowers against the black fabric reaching out to Lilith in an open embrace. Their hands were clasped as they danced and sung together beneath the summer sky.

      “Enjoying yourself?” Esme asked, her soft lips curling into a gentle smile as she locked eyes with Lilith. The Shelby girl nodded vigorously. This was infinitely preferable to the picture house. This was the best she’d felt in a long time. Interest nudged at her.

      “How did you know I was at the picture house?” Lilith asked curiously as their dancing slowed into a sway. Esme stopped dancing and glanced over at the Vardo at the edge of the party. It looked empty. Esme tugged Lilith towards it and she followed without question. The two girls climbed inside and Esme closed the door behind them before they both settled on the rug beneath them. Lilith sat, admiring the room.

      “I saw him ask you in the school yard.” Esme answered softly, hypnotically. “You didn’t look comfortable so I thought I’d check in on you.” Lilith’s heart jumped.

      “Thank you.” She murmured. “You didn’t have to do that. We don’t know each other well.” She swallowed as Esme’s chocolate eyes speered her own. Her mouth was becoming dry and she really needed to drink…. something. A thought occurred to her. “Wait. You were watching me at school?” Esme chuckled and reached out to clasp Lilith’s hand in her own. Her thumb caressed over Lilith’s soft skin and the Shelby girl’s pulse jumped.

      “You didn’t think George Kimber was the only person who fancied you, did you?” Esme shifted a little bit closer. “You’re a very beautiful girl, Lilith.”

      “But-.”

      “I thought you might have been interested in me that day I caught you staring.” Esme began to pull away, looking uncomfortable and a little bit hurt. “I’m sorry if I was mistaken.”

      “No Esme.” Lilith reached for Esme’s hand again. “You weren’t mistaken. I just didn’t think you’d like my attention. You’re so, so-” She struggled to find the word, “...breath-taking.” The two girls were huddled close together now and Esme reached up to tuck a stray hair of Lilith’s behind her ear. They beamed at each other giddily.

      “Can I kiss you?” Esme whispered suddenly into the space between them. Lilith shyly nodded before Esme’s soft warm lips brushed against Lilith’s and her breath hitched. Her heart pounded and she blushed, absolutely certain that the Lee girl could hear it. Lilith grew bold and kissed Esme more firmly. Esme leaned in, warm sparks tingling in both the girl’s lips and faces. They pulled back a moment later and smiled.

*****

The Lees lent Lilith a horse and she returned to small heath. She hummed happily as she slid off the white stallion and handed him over to Uncle Charlie with strict instructions to allow the horse to leave the way it had come after it had eaten.  She slipped back into the house and skilfully avoided Polly and Ada’s awaiting interrogation.

      “He won’t bother me again.” Lilith smiled. “I’ll explain in the morning.” She was firm, even when they pressed her for more details. It wasn’t until she was lying in bed, humming herself to sleep that she felt it. Her fingers reached up to caress Esme’s velvet ribbon tied around her throat…a promise between two young girls. She smiled as sleep carried her away. The world was wonderful again.

[call-sign-shark]

Eeehhh what the hell? It was amazing. What an interesting idea to explore your character’s childhood. It’s always fascinating to see the complex dynamics that constitutes the Shelby clan but damn, this is a whole other level and I loved every words of your work. I could only emphasize with Lilith when that dumb Kimber boy asked her out and she froze. Nevertheless I must admit that I LOVED the description of Lilith’s onyx eyes shining on the glass, it was as poetic as a bit chilling. Definitely suiting your great character. Moreover onyx eyes are such an original complexion for an oc. She was definitely caught off guard and that dumbass didn’t even realize it, too convinced no one can say no to him. 🙄 You’ve crafted a very efficient claustrophobic settings in the cinema scene — see can definitely feel as bad as Lilith. Also I just adored the sentence “rats on her skin”. Such a great image who speaks thousands of words. Which lead us to the restaurant scene… I CANT BREATHE. Really I laughed sm at the description of George Kimber, his sloppiness and the fact he looked like a dog 🤣. Thanks God Esme intervened. As much a bastard as his dad this boy is.

Now, really: ALL THE ESME PART. The two of them dancing in the moonlight and kissing in the vardo. Do you want to kill me? I love love love their relationship. I’ve been waiting so long for someone to pair an oc or reader insert with Esme and here you came, doing God’s work. Everything is so soft about this two — if Jack wasn’t there they would be my top one couple. Good job, Chaos!

[fablesfolklore]

Thank you @call-sign-shark . I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. I'll be exploring more of Lilith's childhood adventures as well because I just feel like she will have gotten up to loads of mischief. I LOVE her onyx eyes. And I think they go well mirroring Heavens crystalline ones. I think they'll make great sisters in law. The Kimber boy was absolutely such a pig like his father.....such an entitled little boy. And Same saved the fucking day! I think she's an underrated character and I love her. I'm glad you like Lilith's chosen childhood sweetheart. I may write more for them in Lilith's timeline in future.

[fablesfolklore]

First Kiss

Summary: This is one of Lilith Rose Shelby's firsts. One of her childhood/Teenage experiences/adventures. A boy from school wants to take Lilith to the picture house, but she's not sure if she wants to go with him....because she likes someone else.

The character of Scarlet Shelby belongs to @zablife.

TW: Underage. Kissing. Violence.

The year was 1915.

It was quieter these days as Lilith walked home from school. The men had gone to war a year ago and as such the women had taken on their roles as breadwinners. The streets were quieter and that only made the noise, when it did come, seem louder. It was warm. One of the warmest summers she’d ever experienced. Her cotton shirt clung to her skin annoyingly and beads of sweat gathered at her temples. She’d grown a lot this last year. At fourteen her figure was slowly shedding its childishness and becoming more womanly. Her hair, now shoulder length shone black like a raven’s feathers in the golden sunlight. She must have been the only person in small heath who seemed at ease. She was happy…and that made most people uncomfortable. There was a war on. Surely she should be worried. Her sunny disposition, however, had engaged the attention of a boy at school. George Kimber was only a year older than Lilith. He was handsome…or so the other girls at school said as much. Lilith wasn’t bothered. At least, not at first. Up until George, she’d only ever looked at girls. She used to stare at Esme Lee a lot, fascinated by her. One day the gypsy girl caught her looking and Lilith blushed before stalking ahead of her and pretending it hadn’t happened. After that Lilith became more guarded with who she looked at and who she acknowledged. She kept herself to herself. which was why Lilith was taken aback when George Kimber swaggered up to her in the schoolyard that very afternoon and asked her if she would go on a date with him to the picture house. Ever confident, like his father, he’d taken her startled expression and silence as a ‘yes’, smiling and winking at her before returning to his school friends. And now here she was on the way home from school, questioning whether or not she actually wanted to go.

     Rounding the corner and onto Watery Lane Lilith smiled when she saw Finn and Ada stood at the door waiting for her. Finn squealed when he saw his sister and ran towards her. Lilith laughed at his fast waddle and wrapped her arms around him when he barrelled into her boyishly. He almost winded her.

      “Careful Finn!” Ada called. “You’ll knock her over one of these days.” Finn smiled toothily up at his sister mischievously as she ruffled his hair. She had a sneaky suspicion that that was the game. The two siblings walked the rest of the way hand in hand. Ada smiled and ushered them inside. With Scarlet away at war, she had only her eldest sister for company

     “Good day at school?” She asked.

     “Not sure, really.”

     “What happened? No one’s been bullying you again I hope.” Ada frowned as she led them into the kitchen and closed the doors to what had once been the betting shop.

     “A boy asked me to go out with him.”

     “Oooh!” Ada gasped, delighted. “What boy? What’s his name?”

     “George Kimber.” Lilith dropped her bag on the kitchen table, rifling through it for her homework. Ada’s face fell.

     “Billy Kimber’s boy?”

     “One in the same.”

     “What did you say?” Ada asked nervously.

     “That’s the problem.” Lilith sighed as she slumped into the kitchen chair. “I didn’t.”

     “You didn’t what?”

     “Say anything.”

     “Pardon?” Ada tucked her hair behind her ear and crossed her arms.

     “It all took me by surprise. I was just reading in the school yard and he ran up to me, asked me to go out with him. I was so stunned and…. confused.” Lilith pored herself a glass of water.

     “Confused?”

    “Yes. I’ve never really noticed him before. I mean, I have noticed him. I know who he is. I’ve just never looked at him the way most of the other girls have looked at him.” She took a sip. “So I didn’t say anything…or rather I didn’t have much time to think about it before he took my lack of an answer for a ‘yes’ and walked off.”

       “Bloody typical. He sounds a little entitled. Well, like father like son, I suppose.” Ada scoffed. “You know; Billy Kimber hasn’t even gone to the front. Fucking coward.” Lilith ignored that line. She knew it must have been bad that Billy Kimber had somehow wormed his way away from being conscripted to the front…but secretly she was jealous of George. She wanted Tommy home.

Why did Billy Kimber get to stay if Tommy had to go? Selfish bastard.

Lilith swallowed her resentment and looked at Ada pleadingly.

     “Now I don’t know what to do.” Ada took the seat beside her sister.

     “Would you like to go out with him?” Lilith leaned back and thought about it for a few moments. All the other girls at school liked him and said he was handsome…. or as handsome as a boy could be at the age of fifteen. But Lilith herself didn’t exactly think he was an oil painting. He was obnoxious as well, over confident and bullish towards their peers.

      “No.” She decided. “But I suppose I’ll have to.”

      “You don’t have to do anything.” Lilith considered the prospect of turning him down tomorrow at school and cringed. No, that would be horrific. He’d be humiliated, everyone would talk about it. Lilith did not want to be held responsible for making her family enemies with the Kimber’s.

      “I know. But I don’t want to hurt him. I’ll pay him the respect of pretending to consider him as a potential suitor.” Lilith joked. “And I’ll let him down at gently after a nice evening. Besides, who knows. We might even make friends.” Ada didn’t look too convinced.

      “Lilith, sometimes you can be too nice. You don’t have to-.”

      “I know.” Lilith snapped. “But I’ve made up my mind.” She took out her workbook and began to ignore her sister. “You can go now, Ada.” Lilith didn’t like the description Ada had given her. Nice? When the fuck had she ever been described as nice? Nice was a word used to describe the mousy, shy girl at the end of the street. Nice was a word used to describe a dinner cooked well enough by someone who had cooked it a thousand times over. Nice was a word used to describe a cottage in the boredom of the English countryside. Nice was not a word used to describe Lilith Rose Shelby.

Ada scowled at her sister’s dismissal, grabbed a magazine and stalked out of the room.

*****

Polly was downstairs pacing. She had not been best pleased when the two sisters had informed her of Lilith’s impending date. It certainly didn’t help that the potential target was a Kimber. Tommy would be livid. Lilith could relate to her aunt’s anger. Of course it would be different if the men were not at war. Tommy and Arthur would for sure have put a stop to it and John would have threatened the ginger haired lout to within an inch of his life.

     “You’re not going out with that boy!”

     “I think you’ll find that I am.”

     “You don’t even want to go.”

     “That’s beside the point.”

     “Seriously?! You’re worried about his feelings?!”

     “On the contrary. I’m doing this for-?”

     “For what?!”

     “Us!” Polly scoffed and Lilith picked up a book and threw it at her. “He’s Billy fucking Kimber’s boy!”

     “Language!” snapped Ada.

     “Don’t be a hypocrite Ada.” Polly snarked at her.

     “If I humiliated him then I’d have made us a target for Kimber in the future. There’s no one here to defend us.” Polly had grumbled but reluctantly agreed and now Lilith stood in front of the looking glass as Ada finished pinning her hair. Polly had altered one of her mother’s red dresses for her to wear. She stared at her reflection curiously. It stared back.

     “You look pretty.” Ada whispered when she’d finished.

     “Do I?” She asked. Is that why he’d asked her to go out with him? Because she was nice to look at. It must have been. He’d never even had a proper conversation with her. He didn’t know that she was intelligent or cunning and sly enough to kill him without anyone knowing that it was she who had done it. Her reflection smirked coldly back at her through the looking glass, onyx eyes twinkling wickedly. If he just wanted a pretty doll then that’s what he’d get…a beautiful, terrifying little doll who by the end of the evening would have scared him away from her and all women for the rest of his life. Polly caught eyes with her through the looking glass and smiled.

     “There’s the Lilith I know.”

*****

He was a floppy haired idiot. It waved around his ears like some kind of spaniel as he walked with her towards the picture house. Her small gloved hand was locked tightly in the crook of his arm and she was starting to get pins and needles in her fingers. She clutched her clutch bag closer to her. She’d done all the right things. Smiled, giggled, taken all of his condescending little compliments on how pretty she looked and how lovely she looked on his arm. Either he wasn’t very bright or he just didn’t care both were bad signs. The only moment he’d conjured up a genuine smile from her was when he had presented her with a ticket for a Charlie Chaplin film. She sat beside him in the theatre, savouring her popcorn and resisting the urge to kick him in the shin as he loudly crunched on his at the speed of sound.

What a pig.

The film started and her shoulders dropped in relief when he ceased inhaling his popcorn. She was enjoying it. Charlie Chaplin was hilarious and very clever. When Thomas had taken the family to see him in London she’d thought he was fabulously entertaining. Not to mention rather handsome beneath all that stage makeup. It had been one of the last times the whole family had laughed properly. His success in the film making business pleased her. A laugh bubbled inside her before she froze. Lilith immediately became very aware of George’s arm around her shoulder. She stiffened directly when his fingertips brushed against her bare arm. An unpleasant shudder shot through her and she closed her eyes for a moment fighting every urge to flinch away. The theatre abruptly appeared to shrink and it felt like they were the only two people in the room. except they weren’t. when she peeked out of the corner of her eye, Lilith was aware that there were people everywhere. When the film finally came to an end Lilith stood quickly, turning to address George.

     “If you’ll please excuse me. I need to use the facilities.” She didn’t even look at him. Her eyes darted around him, refusing to make eye contact. Her stomach churned as she turned from him and scampered off without giving him a moment to respond. She disappeared out the back of the theatre and into the ladies’ lavatory. Closing the bathroom stall she opened her eyes and took a moment to gather herself.

What is the matter with you?!

Lilith had no idea. All she could think about was the rats that scuttled across her skin when he touched her. Had it been accidental? She frowned. No. If it had been he would have surely apologised.  She tried to think, to distract herself. What had happened in the last six minutes of the film? Surely he would ask her what she’d enjoyed the most about it. Alas, everything about the film had blurred when he’d touched her.

Get a grip, Shelby. The sooner you get on with this, the sooner it’ll be over.

Lilith exited the stall, marching out of the toilets with fresh determination. The floppy haired fool was waiting for her in the picture house restaurant. He smiled at her, but it didn’t look like a smile to Lilith. Instead it looked more like a sneer. He passed her a Coca-Cola in a glass bottle and she sat down in the booth opposite him. She sipped her beverage silently. She watched his lips move, alas he did not ask her what she liked about the short film. In fact, he didn’t ask her anything. Just talked at her. His lips moved, forming words ceaselessly, but she wasn’t listening. It was all just noise to her. The horrible part came when he abruptly got up and slid into the booth beside her. Lilith shifted away slightly, looking to give herself a little bit of space. George shifted with her. He leaned towards her, reaching a hand out to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. Lilith, uncomfortable with how close he was to her, sat stock still, hoping that he’d pull back. He didn’t. It was when his nose brushed against hers that she realised what he wanted. She recoiled.

Absolutely not.

Lilith’s fingers fumbled with the clasp on her clutch bag. Before George could even press his lips against Lilith’s she felt him freeze when he heard the clicking of a gun as she cocked the hammer and pressed it against his groin. He pulled back a little to look at her in disdain, his features twisting hideously in anger.

    “Move away from me please.” Lilith smiled as politely as she could. Her pearly teeth on display, glistening like weapons in the lamplight. “I don’t want to kiss you.”

    “No one says no to me. I’m Billy Kimber’s son.” She didn’t know why that made her laugh. But it did. It bubbled inside of her like something hot and poisonous. What was he trying to achieve? The audacity she had to both reject him and to laugh at him must have flabbergasted him because the expression of absolute shock on her face in the seconds before it twisted into something more sinister caused the laugh inside of her to bubble to the surface and she let out a vindictive little giggle.

     “That attitude won’t get you anywhere, Georgie.” She laughed. “You really are an entitled little brat, aren’t you? You can’t handle it when someone says ‘no’.”

      “You little gypsy slut!” He snapped at her, before lunging at her. He wrapped one strong hand around her wrist, squeezing it painfully in an attempt to get her to drop the gun. She held tight, determined not to let go. She knew this was a bad idea. Is this what he did with other girls he took out? Is this what would happen if they also rejected him? She didn’t have time to ask as he wrapped his other hand around her throat and squeezed. She spluttered and coughed, trying to wriggle away from his as fast as she could. But in spite of how lanky he was, he was very strong. It frustrated her as she grew lightheaded. She gripped the hand around her neck and dug her nails into his flesh. The boy gritted his teeth but refused to let go. She was beginning to fear that the last thing she’d ever see was his face when something incredible happened. A band of red bloomed out of nowhere, a beautiful velvet ribbon. She watched, transfixed as delicate fingers wrapped the ribbon around George’s neck and squeezed mercilessly. The boy instantly released his grip on her, his hands flying to the ribbon crushing his Adam's apple. As Lilith’s vision cleared and became less blurry, her eyes locked with Esme Lee’s. The Shelby girl blushed and sat upright, steadying herself against the table.

      “Are you ok?” Esme’s sweet voice rang in her ears. Lilith nodded and Esme released George from her grip. Esme scowled down at the ginger-haired boy and snapped at him. “I think this date is over George. Go home to Daddy now and leave her alone if you know what's good for you.” stepped out of his way and Lilith nearly choked on a laugh as he bolted for the exit door. They watched him leave.

       “Thank you,” Lilith murmured, looking down as she tremblingly returned her gun to her clutch bag. She looked up and found Esme staring at her. “What?”

       “You’re too pretty to go out with him.”

       “Oh.” Lilith licked her lips, nervous. She hadn’t been expecting the compliment. She blushed and said the first thing she could think of. “You’re pretty too.” Esme laughed and offered Lilith her hand.

      “Come on. Let’s get out of here and have some real fun.” Lilith looked at her proffered hand for a moment and felt her heart flutter. The red ribbon Esme had used to strangle George was now tied around a braid in her hair. Lilith was taken aback at just how beautiful Esme really looked. She took Esme’s warm hand with her own and the Lee girl’s fingers hugged her own. The two of them ran off into the evening without looking back.

*****

Lilith laughed. She couldn’t believe her luck.  She was dancing around a large bonfire, under a starry sky. Hand in hand with wilful, wild Esme Lee. Lilith couldn’t bring herself to look away from the girl before her. Esme’s hair fluttered in the breeze, the red ribbon in her hair standing out in the warmth of the firelight. Her eyes sparkled with joy and laughter. Her laugh was girlish and carefree, the tone of it caressing the inside of Lilith’s ears. Everytime Esme had spoken, Lilith had felt herself become warm and breathless. Esme’s skirt dances in the breeze, the embroidered flowers against the black fabric reaching out to Lilith in an open embrace. Their hands were clasped as they danced and sung together beneath the summer sky.

      “Enjoying yourself?” Esme asked, her soft lips curling into a gentle smile as she locked eyes with Lilith. The Shelby girl nodded vigorously. This was infinitely preferable to the picture house. This was the best she’d felt in a long time. Interest nudged at her.

      “How did you know I was at the picture house?” Lilith asked curiously as their dancing slowed into a sway. Esme stopped dancing and glanced over at the Vardo at the edge of the party. It looked empty. Esme tugged Lilith towards it and she followed without question. The two girls climbed inside and Esme closed the door behind them before they both settled on the rug beneath them. Lilith sat, admiring the room.

      “I saw him ask you in the school yard.” Esme answered softly, hypnotically. “You didn’t look comfortable so I thought I’d check in on you.” Lilith’s heart jumped.

      “Thank you.” She murmured. “You didn’t have to do that. We don’t know each other well.” She swallowed as Esme’s chocolate eyes speered her own. Her mouth was becoming dry and she really needed to drink…. something. A thought occurred to her. “Wait. You were watching me at school?” Esme chuckled and reached out to clasp Lilith’s hand in her own. Her thumb caressed over Lilith’s soft skin and the Shelby girl’s pulse jumped.

      “You didn’t think George Kimber was the only person who fancied you, did you?” Esme shifted a little bit closer. “You’re a very beautiful girl, Lilith.”

      “But-.”

      “I thought you might have been interested in me that day I caught you staring.” Esme began to pull away, looking uncomfortable and a little bit hurt. “I’m sorry if I was mistaken.”

      “No Esme.” Lilith reached for Esme’s hand again. “You weren’t mistaken. I just didn’t think you’d like my attention. You’re so, so-” She struggled to find the word, “...breath-taking.” The two girls were huddled close together now and Esme reached up to tuck a stray hair of Lilith’s behind her ear. They beamed at each other giddily.

      “Can I kiss you?” Esme whispered suddenly into the space between them. Lilith shyly nodded before Esme’s soft warm lips brushed against Lilith’s and her breath hitched. Her heart pounded and she blushed, absolutely certain that the Lee girl could hear it. Lilith grew bold and kissed Esme more firmly. Esme leaned in, warm sparks tingling in both the girl’s lips and faces. They pulled back a moment later and smiled.

*****

The Lees lent Lilith a horse and she returned to small heath. She hummed happily as she slid off the white stallion and handed him over to Uncle Charlie with strict instructions to allow the horse to leave the way it had come after it had eaten.  She slipped back into the house and skilfully avoided Polly and Ada’s awaiting interrogation.

      “He won’t bother me again.” Lilith smiled. “I’ll explain in the morning.” She was firm, even when they pressed her for more details. It wasn’t until she was lying in bed, humming herself to sleep that she felt it. Her fingers reached up to caress Esme’s velvet ribbon tied around her throat…a promise between two young girls. She smiled as sleep carried her away. The world was wonderful again.

[fablesfolklore]

In The Graveyard with Lilith Rose Shelby (and Jack Nelson)

This work is inspired by @zablife and her 2K celebration: An Evening at The Arrow House. The OC of Lilith Rose Shelby is my own. The characters of Scarlet Shelby, Aurora Sabini, Heaven Shelby and Eva Smith belong to @zablife, @evita-shelby and @call-sign-shark. I only mentioned them because they inspired me. Eva is only mentioned by name but I did my best to do Scarlet and Heaven justice. Thank you for inspiring me.

TW: Violence, Sexual Content, Swearing.

Lilith Rose Shelby was all grown up. She’d flown the coop and (unlike most members of the Shelby clan) had miraculously escaped the clutches of Tommy’s schemes. Some suspected that her untapped freedom had to do with her immense luck in life… but for those who knew better….it was because Thomas Shelby loved no one more than his youngest sister. No one held such an influence over the greatest gangster turned MP in all of Great Britain (and its dominions) than Lilith, no one else had the keys to his smile or to his heart. You might ask Why, then, she was allowed to roam free? Not shackled to the Arrow House as Ada had once been to the shithole in small heath. Not obligated to attend every family dinner or family meeting that Tommy threw whenever he felt like it.

       “Why?” The new Mrs Shelby kissed up Tommy’s back as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Will she not meet me?” Of all the people she desired to make a friend of in this family, Mrs Shelby wanted to make the best first impression on her mysterious good sister. Everyone spoke of her with reverence. Lilith’s name was the very essence of sorcery. Once spoken, even whispered in corridors and in dark corners, a shiver danced up one’s spine…or one’s blood spiked with adrenalin and excitement.  

Thomas bristled and stiffened, not responding. Mrs Shelby paused, a pout forming on her nervous lips. In truth, she had expected for Thomas to be eager for his new wife to meet Lilith. The siblings were so close, that she’d expected for her to have been the first person he’d have introduced her to. Instead she was met with a cagey Thomas.

       “Lilith doesn’t like Arrow House.” He deflected easily, lighting a cigarette as he stood up and wandered to the window, looking out into the foggy grey autumnal morning. He exhaled some smoke in the way that had her swooning, before he spoke again. “It reminds her of Grace.” Mrs Shelby’s heart dropped. Grace, the woman whose shadow she was forever enshrouded by. She didn’t openly wish to express her dislike of Grace or Lizzie, but she was beginning to despise them. She knew their spirits were mourned and honoured in this house…. if only by the staff and the children. It was complicated. But she hated being compared to them, hated the way the children refused to acknowledge her but would gaze in awe at the portraits of their respective mothers. It made her feel like a replacement…. nothing more. Perhaps Lilith would think the same of her. She chewed on her lip.

        “She must have loved Grace a lot.” She mused. Tommy scoffed.

        “On the contrary, Lilith hated Grace.” He licked his lips, glancing at his wife. He’d put it politely for her, spared some of the details. No one hated Grace more than Tommy’s beloved little demoness. “She disliked Lizzie as well, but for different reasons.”

        “Oh.”

        “Grace betrayed me. Lilith refused to forgive that. The only reason she refrained from dancing with joy when she died was that she loved me too much.”

        “And Lizzie?”

        “Lizzie broke John’s heart.”  Tommy spoke casually, remorselessly as though he’d had nothing to do with it.

        “I’ve not done anything to hurt anyone.” Mrs Shelby sulked, looking at the floor. Tommy strolled back over to the bed and took her into his arms.

        “Quite right.” He kissed her forehead. “Perhaps it’s not such a bad idea to invite her this weekend.”

        “But she hates the Arrow House.”

        “She’ll come for the family, and for me. The kids will be delighted to see her”

        “She’s good with them?” Her interest was piqued. Perhaps Lilith could shed light on the way to Charlie and Ruby’s hearts.

        “She dotes on them.” He smiled, a real genuine smile. “They’re mine, after all.”

*****

Mrs Shelby skipped towards Tommy, her letter filled left hand raised in triumph. Her sparkling sapphire engagement ring sparkled in the light.

     “They’re coming.” She kissed him joyously. “They’re all coming.”

     “All?” He chuckled.

     “All.” She confirmed. “And they’re all staying. Scarlet and Luca will stay in the room opposite Finn and Aurora. Alfie and Ada will stay in the room opposite Polly and Aberamma.” Tommy smiled as she babbled out her arrangements. He imagined it was a good idea that Alfie and Arthur should stay in separate wings of the house…. otherwise Ada and Heaven would be forced to intervene, and no one wanted a mess. Gina and Michael would go next to Ada and Alfie. John and Tatiana would have to be kept in the room next to Tommy and Mrs Shelby so he could keep an eye on that mad bitch. Speaking of that insane Russian duchess…. she’d have to be kept as far away from Lilith and her beloved husband, Jack Nelson. Last Christmas had been a disaster when Tatiana – having had way too much to drink – announced that herself and Lilith had been lovers for the entire year before Lilith had met Jack. Jack had hated her guts since. The children would have three whole rooms to themselves. Something Mrs Shelby wasn’t sure was appropriate, but something Tommy had insisted was necessary.

     “They all love being together.” He insisted. “And it’s not like we’re giving them the entire house.”

     “I’m still so shocked they’re all coming.” She smiled dreamily up at him. “I’ve always wanted a big family.”

     “Well, now you have one.”

     “You never told me Lilith was married.”

     “Ah.” Tommy looked sheepish. “I didn’t think she’d bring him.”

Two years ago she’d eloped with Jack Nelson, the last man on earth Tommy had thought suitable or good enough for Lilith. Jack Nelson was everything Tommy (ironically) hated. He was unfaithful, violent, a fascistic Irish American and he was the most obnoxious, ambitious, cunning bastard he’d ever encountered…It was like looking in an ever so slightly warped mirror. His dislike of the American hadn’t stopped Lilith marrying him though…And yet somehow, the marriage worked. Jack followed the little Shelby witch round like a lost puppy, salivating whenever she looked at him. It was like she held some sort of magical enchantment over him. The loved up pair made Thomas feel a little bit sick. Mrs Shelby smiled teasingly.

      “You can’t stand him, can you?”

      “He’s not good enough for her.” He grouched. “But for some unfathomable reason, he makes her happy. That’s enough for me.” From the way he gritted his teeth it seemed like that hardest thing he’d ever had to say.

      “Everyone thinks you’re a big bad gangster…but I know you’re really just a big softy.”

      “Don’t go telling everyone, ey.” He laughed, “I have a reputation to uphold.” Wrapping his arms around her waist he hoisted her up onto the table, taking her lips with his own. Someone coughed. Tommy turned to see Mary, the maid.

       “The house is all prepared for the guests, Mr Shelby.”

        “Thank you, Mary. That will be all.” She nodded, turning to leave but not before she eyed Mrs Shelby with frigid, calculating eyes. Thomas didn’t seem to notice though as he shifted his attention back to Mrs Shelby as his fingers slid beneath the hem of her dress.

*****

They were nothing like she expected. None of them. Polly arrived first, gliding in like the image of sophistication, barely glancing at Mrs Shelby. Aberamma following closely at her heels. He grunted in greeting, simply tilting his head after removing his hat. Arthur and Heaven arrived at the same time as Scarlet and Luca. Arthur’s greeting had been sweet. He seemed to like her, spluttering over his words to greet her. His hands shook and his eyes looked a little wild. But he meant well. Heaven waltzed in behind him, looking like an angel in her white fur coat. The snow haired beauty’s presence seemed to ease Arthur’s nervousness. He wrapped his arm around her waist as she held out her hand for Mrs Shelby to shake.

     “You must be Heaven.” Mrs Shelby stuttered, transfixed by her crystalline eyes.

     “Pleasure.” Heaven’s eyes slid to Tommy and her expression instantly shifted to a predatory one. “Bastard.” She acknowledged with a cat like smile.

      “Yes. He is.” Scarlet stated as she sauntered through, pushing her way past them and following Polly into the drawing room.

      “You’re not going to say hello, Tesoro?” Luca paused in the hallway, smiling at Mary as she took his hat and coat.

       “There’s no point in greeting Tommy’s latest victim. Knowing him, she won’t last the year.” Scarlet called back. Tommy watched Mrs Shelby’s confidence dissipate momentarily. Headlights glowed in the driveway.

       “Heaven, why don’t you take Arthur and Luca into the drawing room.” Tommy suggested. Heaven’s icy eyes hardened before narrowing at him. Her lips parted in order to respond in a somewhat poisonous manner but Mrs Shelby stepped forward and whispered to her.

       “I wouldn’t normally agree with Tommy but Alfie’s just arrived.” Heaven observed the mouse like woman Tommy had married for a moment before she nodded, escorting her husband and brother in law to the drawing room. Music blared as the door opened and Mrs Shelby could see the reflection of Scarlet in the large mirror as she turned the gramophone up.

       “SHALOM Thomas!” Roared the bear of a man as he wandered in. Ada rolled her eyes beside him. She hugged Thomas tightly before embracing Mrs Shelby, much to her surprise.

       “I hope they’ve not been too scathing to you.” She whispered. “Don’t worry, they’ll warm to you with time.” She pulled back and smiled. “This is my son, Karl, my daughter, Elizabeth and this,” She brushed her hand over her swollen midsection as Alfie beamed with joy. “Is baby Solomons.” Tommy paled as she spoke, only just noticing the pregnancy.

        “Jesus Christ.” He muttered beneath his breath.  Mrs Shelby held his hand and gave it a squeeze as she spoke.

        “You’d better head on in before he has a stroke.”

Tommy had just about recovered when the door to the drawing room opened and he heard Arthur exclaim.

         “Fookin’ hell Ada! You bloody kept that quiet, din’t ya?!”

Finn and Aurora Sabini arrived next. Polite and jovial as ever, though Aurora didn’t appear to like the way the youngest Shelby boy looked at his new sister in law. John, Tatiana, Michael and Gina all arrived together. Lawrence ran in from the cold, zooming in circles around Tommy and Mrs Shelby before running past them to the drawing room, banging on the door and yelling “Granma, Granma!”

       “My boy!” Polly called in joy as she came out and greeted him, swooping down and collecting him in her arms before slipping back inside. Gina made a noise of disgust.

       “Thomas.” She acknowledged.

       “Regina.” She scowled as he full named her.

       “So this is you’re newest whore?” She studied Mrs Shelby with critical eyes. “She doesn’t look like much, I’m surprised you’re so taken with her.”

        “She’s worth ten of you, Regina.” He snapped.

       “Michael.” Mrs Shelby smiled warmly. “Thank you for coming.”

        “It’s nice to see you again, love. I hope he’s treating you right.”

        “He is. Very Much.”

        “I took the liberty of bringing a wedding gift. It’s out the front.”

        “That’s very generous of you. Really, you didn’t have to.”

        “Yes, Michael. You didn’t have to.” Gina snapped before stalking off to the drawing room and loudly demanding a drink. Michael winked at Mrs Shelby, smirked at Tommy and left them to it. He turned to greet John and Tatiana and froze.

      “Fuck!” He fumed. “What the fuck are you wearing?!” He looked at John. “What the fuck is she wearing John-boy!”

      “Don’t worry, Thomas.” Tatiana purred sensually. “It’s not for you…or your wife.” She stepped around him, the thin scrap of material she called a dress clinging to her figure. “Tatiana Petrovna Shelby, delighted to make your acquaintance.” Mrs Shelby blushed and stepped closer to Tommy as the Russian duchess invaded her space. Grabbing her jaw, Tatiana kissed both of Mrs Shelby’s cheeks.”

       “She’d got a beautiful neck, Thomas. I can see why you like her.” She paused. “And that ring!” She snatched Mrs Shelby’s hand, admiring the sapphire encrusted in diamonds. She tutted. “I would have thought you’d learned your lesson with sapphires.”

       “They’re a particular favourite of my wife’s.”

       “Grace liked sapphires too.” Tatiana smirked, her dark eyes flickering madly in the candle-light. “Is Lilith here yet?” She changed the subject.

       “Is she the reason you’re dressed like a whore?” Tommy took a swig of the amber liquid in his tumbler. “You not bothered by this John?”

       “As long as I’m the only man she fucks, doesn’t matter to me.” He joked.

       “It’ll only ever be you Johnny.” Tatiana turned and kissed him.

       “Aye, John-boy. As long as you’re a Shelby, she’s not picky.”

       “What’s that supposed to mean?” Mrs Shelby asked, nervously glancing at Tommy.

       “It means that before she chose me, she was fucking Tommy…until she got bored of him.” John answered. 

         “Are we interupptin’ somethin’?” Came Uncle Charlie’s deep gravelly voice. He stopped short to shake Tommy’s hand, flanked by Johnny Doggs, Isiah and Curly. Curly smiled bashfully at Mrs Shelby and handed her some flowers. She blushed.

         “Thank you Curly.”

         “How’re you findin’ us so far, petal?” Johnny Doggs asked loudly.

         “So far I’m struggling to find someone who likes both of us. Polly, Aurora and Gina dislike me, everyone else has a gripe with Tommy.” Johnny Doggs barked out a laugh. “Welcome to the clan!”

          “Families.” Isiah scoffed. “Who’d have em?”

*****

Lilith Rose Shelby was the most beautiful creature Mrs Shelby had ever seen. So beautiful, that the air rocketed out of her lungs when she first saw her. They heard Jack first as he escorted her up the steps and held the door open for her. She looked like a goddess, draped in silk. Tommy was fascinated that Jack never once looked away from her. His only greeting to the new Mrs Shelby was a nod and a smirk. He sneered at Tommy before his attention gravitated back to his wife. She had the most beguiling dark eyes Mrs Shelby had ever seen. They were like pools of endless night. Lilith catapulted herself into Tommy, who embraced her tightly and inhaled her scent. Pomegranate and dark amber. She relaxed into him. Releasing her, Tommy cupped his baby sister’s face in his hands and looked at her for a moment.

     “You grow more and more beautiful every time I see you.” He smiled.

     “Brother.” She spoke quietly….and she sounded like magic. Soft and sensual. “You look well.” She beamed at him. And Mrs Shelby’s heart fluttered at her smile. Jack snaked a hand around Lilith’s waist and pulled her back against him.

      “Shelby.” Jack acknowledged. “Married again? You can’t seem to get em’ to stay, can ya?”

      “Nelson.” Tommy spoke evenly. “I can keep women just fine. In fact, I’ve never had to cross a continent and steal a woman away to make her mine. I suppose that means I have better luck than you.” Lilith covered Jack’s hand with her own.

     “Or,” She interrupted loudly, “It simply means that I was special enough that he had to travel all this way to find me.” Mrs Shelby watched, fascinated as both men melted at Lilith words. Jack kissed Lilith’s forehead and Tommy smiled.

    “Could be.” He agreed. Lilith stepped away from Jack and turned her attention to Mrs Shelby. All the noise fell away. She couldn’t hear anything. Apart from the sound of her blood pulsing through her at a rapid speed. She glanced at her husband, and watched his beautiful lips move as he spoke to Lilith and Jack. She watched Lilith study her, eyes raking over her in an unreadable manner. Mrs Shelby’s finger twitched as Lilith’s eyes pause over her engagement ring, her full soft lips quirking into a small smile for a moment before it vanishes. Mrs Shelby gasped, startled when Lilith unexpectedly stepped forward and smiled at her. Lilith took Mrs Shelby’s left hand in both of hers. Her thumb brushed over the sapphire. Her eyes pierced into Mrs Shelby’s hypnotically and Mrs Shelby found herself transfixed as Thomas brushed a hand up and down her back, comfortingly…. obliviously.

      “Sister.” Lilith tested the word on her tongue as she surveyed Mrs Shelby. “You’ll be good to him, yes?” She sounded so innocent. So angelic. Her eyes held no malice. Mrs Shelby stuttered.

      “Y-Yes. I shall try to be all that he deserves.”

Lilith beamed at her and released her hand. Mrs Shelby’s ring finger throbbed momentarily as she watched her fascinating sister turn and enter the drawing room with Jack. She saw through the reflection in the mirror as Polly embraced her niece tightly and was startled to see Lilith’s reflection gazing predatorily through the looking glass at her.

*****

Dinner was a fucking disaster. It had been nothing like she had hoped. Perhaps she was just projecting her own fears but it seemed that none of them liked her…. even the ones who appeared to. It seemed as though they were watching her every move with a pre-existing negative judgement. She was guilty to them, of something. The problem was she didn’t know what and she didn’t know how to change that. Tommy had enough to deal with, especially after Tatiana had goaded Jack into a row and she was swearing at him in Russian. Arthur had had way too much to drink. Scarlet was screaming at Tommy for something he’d done years ago and Luca was trying desperately to calm her down. She turned to look at Michael, who was in a heated discussion with Gina…and Aurora kept throwing her dirty looks.  In the end she’d left the table, claiming to check on dessert. She’d just found a quiet alcove to take a few moments when someone touched her shoulder. She jolted and turned to see Lilith.

    “Feeling overwhelmed?” Her voice was so soft, sympathy swirled in her onyx eyes.

    “A little.”

A lot. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

    “I know. We can be a lot to handle.” She looked out into the darkened garden. “Why don’t we go for a walk.” She suggested. “Take a moment to ourselves.” Mrs Shelby’s heart soared at the prospect of having a moment alone with someone who might actually like her and in doing so, might sway the opinion of the others. She nodded and took Lilith’s offered arm as the two of them stepped out into the cool autumn air.

It hadn’t been long since they had returned from their honeymoon and so Mrs Shelby hadn’t yet had time to explore the grounds of the Arrow House properly. In the dark murkiness of the evening she couldn’t really see where she was going and clutched on to Lilith’s bare arm a little closer for security. She smelt dizzyingly alluring. Away from all the smoke and whiskey the magic of her perfumed the air in a wonderful way. 

    “How did you meet my brother, if you don’t mind me asking?”

    “Da’s one of his employees at Shelby Company ltd. I met Tommy when I brought Da his lunch.”

    “How…. quaint.”

Mrs Shelby wasn’t paying attention. She was too bust staring at the purple love bites littering Lilith’s creamy throat. Lilith flushed and giggled when she noticed.

    “I’m sorry, I should have covered up more, Jack can get carried away some times.”

    “He’s very fond of you.”

    “And I, him.” Lilith patted Mrs Shelby’s hand. “I never expected to find Jack. But he’s my better half. As Heaven is Arthur’s and Luca is Scarlet’s. We were worried Thomas would never find someone….worthy.” Lilith stopped her movements and released Mrs Shelby’s arm. For the first time, Mrs Shelby noticed her surroundings. Lilith had brought her to the churchyard close to the Arrow House. She turned, only just able to see the outline of it looming in the moonlight. She shivered, looking back to Lilith who was now staring at something in front of her. “Thomas has very specific needs.” Her voice had lost all of its warmth. Mrs Shelby’s mouth ran dry as she read the names on the gravestones in front of her.

Grace Burgess Shelby.

Daughter, Mother, Beloved Wife.

Elizabeth Stark Shelby

Mother, wife, friend. Lost to childbirth.

Something rustled behind them. Lilith turned and smiled adoringly as Jack stepped out of the shadows. Mrs Shelby wondered how he had known where to find them. “You have to be a certain kind of person to survive in this family. Don’t you, my love?”

    “Ya got that right. It’s an honour to love a Shelby…to be prepared to kill and die for them.”

“Thomas needs a fighter.” Lilith reached out and caressed Mrs Shelby’s cheek. “You didn’t fight tonight. You fled, little mouse.” Lilith tutted and stepped closer, so close, Mrs Shelby could feel Lilith’s sweet, warm breath burning against her flesh. “How can I trust that you’ll fulfil him?” Lilith shook her head, looking sad, disappointed even. Jack brushed his wife’s hair off her shoulder, exposing her flesh. He pressed a kiss into the crook of her neck. Mrs Shelby watched Lilith relax a little. “You’re not good enough for him.” Lilith purred softly, Jack’s lips and tongue trailed down Lilith’s neck as she spoke. “Neither of them were, either.” She glanced to the gravestones behind her. “I was lucky with Lizzie; God took care of her. But I had to intervene with Grace.”

  “B-but we’re happy.” Mrs Shelby spluttered, fear creeping into her voice every second longer that she spent in Lilith’s presence.

   “For now. Until he realises that you’re not enough for him.” She paused, relishing in the look of despair on Mrs Shelby’s features. “Don’t worry. He’ll be happier than ever with Eva. They’ll be perfect together.” Jack hummed in agreement with his beloved and imprinted his teeth in a perfect love bite into her neck as she slid home a beautiful carved and somewhat bejewelled blade into Mrs Shelby’s sternum. Mrs Shelby gasped in pain, a sharp sound leaving her soft lips. “She’s earned him, you haven’t.” Lilith continued as she twisted the hilt, a horrible tearing noise was heard before Lilith let go. Mrs Shelby staggered back and fell back against the willow tree overhanging the makeshift graveyard.  Lilith looked down at her blood spattered fingers. Lifting them to her face she licked one, smearing her lips in the substance. Greedily, Jack took her fingers and painted his own mouth with them. Lilith spun in Jack’s arms, giggling and moaning as their lips fused, unbuckling his belt. She murmured something to him and he acquiesced without question, sitting and leaning back against Grace’s headstone. Lilith slipped her dress over her head until she was wearing barely anything in the coldness of the autumn night. She straddled Jack, kissing him deeply before sliding down onto him in the ghostly glow of the full moon.

Mrs Shelby heaved, opening her mouth. She tried to call for help but no sound emerged. Instead she found herself mute, only coughing and spluttering on the crimson blood as it tried to liberate itself from her mouth. Her vision grew blurry for a moment as tears gathered and obscured her sight.

And then she saw them.

The ghosts of Grace Burgess and Lizzie Stark, both completely drenched in blood and staring in horror, not at her but at Lilith and Jack, as he flipped his wife over and took her like an animal. Lizzie’s expression was melancholic. Her hair loose and wild, eyes ceaselessly spilling tears and her mouth agape in silent cries of agony. Her body had been slit open from chest to lower abdomen and still, even in death, she was bleeding. Grace stood beside her still in the gown she wore the night she was murdered. the bullet wound on her chest still wept even though she didn’t. Her face was curiously, disturbingly calm. The sapphire around her neck pulsed and throbbed and pulsed and throbbed. And suddenly Grace wasn’t looking at Lilith and Jack anymore, her pale grey eyes locking onto her second replacement. Mrs Shelby found herself growing shivery and yet unable to move, unable to scramble backwards as the sapphire whispered to her over and over some kind of spell in Romani. The curse…. she recalled hazily as she forced her limbs in an attempt to move. Tommy believed it had been cursed by the Russians. Mrs Shelby’s fingers dug into the soil as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Every movement was excruciating in both pain and in effort. Her eyes fluttered closed in exhaustion and the spell of the sapphire seemed to sing louder and louder, it’s feminine voice echoing seductively in her ears. She realised it was coming not only from the necklace Grace’s ghost wore, but also from the ring on her engagement finger. Struggling, she tried desperately to remove it. But to no avail, it was as though it had fused to her flesh, strangling her finger.

Mrs Shelby’s eyes snapped open. Just in time to see the ghost of Grace stood over her.

“I should feel sorry for you.” Grace whispered. “You’re a victim of this family, just like me.” She paused, licking her discoloured corpse lips. Grace heard it too. She heard that it was Lilith’s voice cursing her inside the blue sapphires, not Tatiana’s. “And Tommy does love you.” There was a moment of silence. “But… I’ve come to realise something.” Grace leaned down and kissed Mrs Shelby’s lips, her ghostly fingers coming up to wrap around Mrs Shelby’s throat. “If I can’t have Tommy…” Grace murmured as she pulled back looking deeply into Mrs Shelby’s eyes.

Her grip tightened...and tightened…and tightened. Mrs Shelby choked and spluttered, her body convulsing. The last thing she saw was Lilith’s dark eyes staring at her over Jack’s shoulder, her nails digging into his back as he held her to him. And Grace’s hoarse voice looming over her.

“Then no one can.”  

[call-sign-shark]

Ohhh what a nice surprise. Thank you so much for including Heaven in this great horror tale. Your work is a wonderful addition to Lee’s event and it was a very pleasant read. First of all, you did more than justice to Heaven. I adored every moments in which she was — it feels like you got a perfect understanding of her and what she’s radiates off. I’m thinking about this specific passage:

• ““Heaven waltzed in behind him, looking like an angel in her white fur coat. The snow haired beauty’s presence seemed to ease Arthur’s nervousness. He wrapped his arm around her waist as she held out her hand for Mrs Shelby to shake.” Like, this was freaking incredible and so canon. From how you describe her graceful movements to Arthur calming down with his angel. You even remembered that she wears white fur coat and that she has crystalline eyes!! Wow I’m touched and a bit teary ngl 🥺🖤

The dinner/meeting scenes were the best. You have managed to instill a sense of creepiness and danger, not only around Lilith but around all the guests. We definitely feel that Mrs. Shelby is trapped in a room full of dangerous predator and she is the little prey. Hence my deep love for the nickname “little mouse” Lilith gives her. It echoes super well with Heaven’s “cat-like smile” (which made me squeal because I often picture Heaven’s smile really Cheshire-like.)

Also you’ve did a really great job at portraying the many characters, kudo for your portrayal of John, Tatiana and Jack, because they all feel 100% in character. I must say that you’ve made such interesting pairings here! + Jack and Scarlett KILLED me when they tackle Tommy about how he has changed for another wife again and how this one won’t last either. It must be so painful for Mrs. Shelby to hear these kinds of murderous comments.

Now about the cruel demise of Mrs. Shelby: I freaking love it. I think my favorite part was how Lilith explained wickedly to the protagonist that she’s no match for Thomas and that what the Shelby are looking for his the other half of their soul, such as Heaven and Arthur, Scarlet and Luca or, soon, Thomas and Eva. I think this is particularly clever that Lilith kind of chooses his favorite brother’s wife, knowing her choice will suit him. I must admit btw that I’m a sucker for power couple and this is exactly what you did with Jack and Lilith. They have a great dynamic and I particularly appreciated the scene when she’s kinda scaring the shit out of Mrs Shelby all the while Jack starts kissing her shoulder and biting her. Extra sensual and dark, love it. Intriguing OC and excellent work! Admittedly, I’m always a bit “meh” when the oc are too praised in the narrative but here it worked like a charm since its a horror tale and enhances the demonic aspect of your character. I think you should def stick with the demon/succubus allegory for Lilith — it’s even in her wonderfully chosen name! 😘

Anyway… what a great ride!! And thank you again honey I am beyond touched by your Heaven cameo. Can’t wait to read more of your work! 🖤

[fablesfolklore]

@call-sign-shark

I’m so pleased you like it! I LOVE Heaven. I think she’s fabulous. I’m so glad you think I did her justice. I get the feeling she doesn’t particularly like Tommy but who the fuck does in that family? They’re absolutely all predators. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the dinner and meeting scenes. I was worried because I fear I can’t write well for Arthur. Some voices I think I’ve got down but I’ll work to improve my others. My favourite idea for the dinner (which I may write at some point) is that idea that Arthur and Alfie would have started a row and at the other end of the table Tatiana is screaming at Jack in Russian and Heaven and Lilith look at each other, roll their eyes and sip their drinks…kindred spirits.

I’m glad you liked my pairings. I thought Luca and Scarlett would be cute. And Ada and Alfie. I don’t think the two have ever actually met but I feel like he’d be putty for her. I wanted to mirror Tommy in Lilith because she 100% has secretly helped to handpick her sibling’s spouses. Like Tommy in season 1 when Ada yells at him at John’s wedding, “Chooses his brother’s wives for them.” I feel like Lilith is the same but more manipulative. She lets them think they have a choice. I have this idea that she set Luca and Scarlett up during season 4, Helped John woo Tatiana and scared Linda off for Heaven. I think Michael may have been the only one who she may not have had a say in…. because she hates Gina. I like the idea that Lilith has this sort of magical energy and she enchants most people she meets, like they’re all drawn to her. Kind of like a trap. She’s pretty and seemingly sweet natured but she’s actually an absolute devil… a hint towards her true nature is that Tatiana fancies her and that Jack fucking fell in love and married her.

I’m glad you like the ending. I feel like there is some truth for her in that what the Shelby’s look for is the other half of their souls. Light to dark and vice versa…but they’ve got to be fierce too. And who better to pick for Tommy than her. She knows him the best and she’ll know what he’d like and need. I’m glad you like the Jack/Lilith dynamic. I just feel they’d be perfect together. Bonnie and Clyde but scarier. As for Lilith she 100% has her flaws. She’s 100% a demoness. She just doesn’t realise it. Anyway I’m so glad you enjoyed and I hope to post more of her adventures soon.

[fablesfolklore]

In The Graveyard with Lilith Rose Shelby (and Jack Nelson)

This work is inspired by @zablife and her 2K celebration: An Evening at The Arrow House. The OC of Lilith Rose Shelby is my own. The characters of Scarlet Shelby, Aurora Sabini, Heaven Shelby and Eva Smith belong to @zablife, @evita-shelby and @call-sign-shark. I only mentioned them because they inspired me. Eva is only mentioned by name but I did my best to do Scarlet and Heaven justice. Thank you for inspiring me.

TW: Violence, Sexual Content, Swearing.

Lilith Rose Shelby was all grown up. She’d flown the coop and (unlike most members of the Shelby clan) had miraculously escaped the clutches of Tommy’s schemes. Some suspected that her untapped freedom had to do with her immense luck in life… but for those who knew better….it was because Thomas Shelby loved no one more than his youngest sister. No one held such an influence over the greatest gangster turned MP in all of Great Britain (and its dominions) than Lilith, no one else had the keys to his smile or to his heart. You might ask Why, then, she was allowed to roam free? Not shackled to the Arrow House as Ada had once been to the shithole in small heath. Not obligated to attend every family dinner or family meeting that Tommy threw whenever he felt like it.

       “Why?” The new Mrs Shelby kissed up Tommy’s back as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Will she not meet me?” Of all the people she desired to make a friend of in this family, Mrs Shelby wanted to make the best first impression on her mysterious good sister. Everyone spoke of her with reverence. Lilith’s name was the very essence of sorcery. Once spoken, even whispered in corridors and in dark corners, a shiver danced up one’s spine…or one’s blood spiked with adrenalin and excitement.  

Thomas bristled and stiffened, not responding. Mrs Shelby paused, a pout forming on her nervous lips. In truth, she had expected for Thomas to be eager for his new wife to meet Lilith. The siblings were so close, that she’d expected for her to have been the first person he’d have introduced her to. Instead she was met with a cagey Thomas.

       “Lilith doesn’t like Arrow House.” He deflected easily, lighting a cigarette as he stood up and wandered to the window, looking out into the foggy grey autumnal morning. He exhaled some smoke in the way that had her swooning, before he spoke again. “It reminds her of Grace.” Mrs Shelby’s heart dropped. Grace, the woman whose shadow she was forever enshrouded by. She didn’t openly wish to express her dislike of Grace or Lizzie, but she was beginning to despise them. She knew their spirits were mourned and honoured in this house…. if only by the staff and the children. It was complicated. But she hated being compared to them, hated the way the children refused to acknowledge her but would gaze in awe at the portraits of their respective mothers. It made her feel like a replacement…. nothing more. Perhaps Lilith would think the same of her. She chewed on her lip.

        “She must have loved Grace a lot.” She mused. Tommy scoffed.

        “On the contrary, Lilith hated Grace.” He licked his lips, glancing at his wife. He’d put it politely for her, spared some of the details. No one hated Grace more than Tommy’s beloved little demoness. “She disliked Lizzie as well, but for different reasons.”

        “Oh.”

        “Grace betrayed me. Lilith refused to forgive that. The only reason she refrained from dancing with joy when she died was that she loved me too much.”

        “And Lizzie?”

        “Lizzie broke John’s heart.”  Tommy spoke casually, remorselessly as though he’d had nothing to do with it.

        “I’ve not done anything to hurt anyone.” Mrs Shelby sulked, looking at the floor. Tommy strolled back over to the bed and took her into his arms.

        “Quite right.” He kissed her forehead. “Perhaps it’s not such a bad idea to invite her this weekend.”

        “But she hates the Arrow House.”

        “She’ll come for the family, and for me. The kids will be delighted to see her”

        “She’s good with them?” Her interest was piqued. Perhaps Lilith could shed light on the way to Charlie and Ruby’s hearts.

        “She dotes on them.” He smiled, a real genuine smile. “They’re mine, after all.”

*****

Mrs Shelby skipped towards Tommy, her letter filled left hand raised in triumph. Her sparkling sapphire engagement ring sparkled in the light.

     “They’re coming.” She kissed him joyously. “They’re all coming.”

     “All?” He chuckled.

     “All.” She confirmed. “And they’re all staying. Scarlet and Luca will stay in the room opposite Finn and Aurora. Alfie and Ada will stay in the room opposite Polly and Aberamma.” Tommy smiled as she babbled out her arrangements. He imagined it was a good idea that Alfie and Arthur should stay in separate wings of the house…. otherwise Ada and Heaven would be forced to intervene, and no one wanted a mess. Gina and Michael would go next to Ada and Alfie. John and Tatiana would have to be kept in the room next to Tommy and Mrs Shelby so he could keep an eye on that mad bitch. Speaking of that insane Russian duchess…. she’d have to be kept as far away from Lilith and her beloved husband, Jack Nelson. Last Christmas had been a disaster when Tatiana – having had way too much to drink – announced that herself and Lilith had been lovers for the entire year before Lilith had met Jack. Jack had hated her guts since. The children would have three whole rooms to themselves. Something Mrs Shelby wasn’t sure was appropriate, but something Tommy had insisted was necessary.

     “They all love being together.” He insisted. “And it’s not like we’re giving them the entire house.”

     “I’m still so shocked they’re all coming.” She smiled dreamily up at him. “I’ve always wanted a big family.”

     “Well, now you have one.”

     “You never told me Lilith was married.”

     “Ah.” Tommy looked sheepish. “I didn’t think she’d bring him.”

Two years ago she’d eloped with Jack Nelson, the last man on earth Tommy had thought suitable or good enough for Lilith. Jack Nelson was everything Tommy (ironically) hated. He was unfaithful, violent, a fascistic Irish American and he was the most obnoxious, ambitious, cunning bastard he’d ever encountered…It was like looking in an ever so slightly warped mirror. His dislike of the American hadn’t stopped Lilith marrying him though…And yet somehow, the marriage worked. Jack followed the little Shelby witch round like a lost puppy, salivating whenever she looked at him. It was like she held some sort of magical enchantment over him. The loved up pair made Thomas feel a little bit sick. Mrs Shelby smiled teasingly.

      “You can’t stand him, can you?”

      “He’s not good enough for her.” He grouched. “But for some unfathomable reason, he makes her happy. That’s enough for me.” From the way he gritted his teeth it seemed like that hardest thing he’d ever had to say.

      “Everyone thinks you’re a big bad gangster…but I know you’re really just a big softy.”

      “Don’t go telling everyone, ey.” He laughed, “I have a reputation to uphold.” Wrapping his arms around her waist he hoisted her up onto the table, taking her lips with his own. Someone coughed. Tommy turned to see Mary, the maid.

       “The house is all prepared for the guests, Mr Shelby.”

        “Thank you, Mary. That will be all.” She nodded, turning to leave but not before she eyed Mrs Shelby with frigid, calculating eyes. Thomas didn’t seem to notice though as he shifted his attention back to Mrs Shelby as his fingers slid beneath the hem of her dress.

*****

They were nothing like she expected. None of them. Polly arrived first, gliding in like the image of sophistication, barely glancing at Mrs Shelby. Aberamma following closely at her heels. He grunted in greeting, simply tilting his head after removing his hat. Arthur and Heaven arrived at the same time as Scarlet and Luca. Arthur’s greeting had been sweet. He seemed to like her, spluttering over his words to greet her. His hands shook and his eyes looked a little wild. But he meant well. Heaven waltzed in behind him, looking like an angel in her white fur coat. The snow haired beauty’s presence seemed to ease Arthur’s nervousness. He wrapped his arm around her waist as she held out her hand for Mrs Shelby to shake.

     “You must be Heaven.” Mrs Shelby stuttered, transfixed by her crystalline eyes.

     “Pleasure.” Heaven’s eyes slid to Tommy and her expression instantly shifted to a predatory one. “Bastard.” She acknowledged with a cat like smile.

      “Yes. He is.” Scarlet stated as she sauntered through, pushing her way past them and following Polly into the drawing room.

      “You’re not going to say hello, Tesoro?” Luca paused in the hallway, smiling at Mary as she took his hat and coat.

       “There’s no point in greeting Tommy’s latest victim. Knowing him, she won’t last the year.” Scarlet called back. Tommy watched Mrs Shelby’s confidence dissipate momentarily. Headlights glowed in the driveway.

       “Heaven, why don’t you take Arthur and Luca into the drawing room.” Tommy suggested. Heaven’s icy eyes hardened before narrowing at him. Her lips parted in order to respond in a somewhat poisonous manner but Mrs Shelby stepped forward and whispered to her.

       “I wouldn’t normally agree with Tommy but Alfie’s just arrived.” Heaven observed the mouse like woman Tommy had married for a moment before she nodded, escorting her husband and brother in law to the drawing room. Music blared as the door opened and Mrs Shelby could see the reflection of Scarlet in the large mirror as she turned the gramophone up.

       “SHALOM Thomas!” Roared the bear of a man as he wandered in. Ada rolled her eyes beside him. She hugged Thomas tightly before embracing Mrs Shelby, much to her surprise.

       “I hope they’ve not been too scathing to you.” She whispered. “Don’t worry, they’ll warm to you with time.” She pulled back and smiled. “This is my son, Karl, my daughter, Elizabeth and this,” She brushed her hand over her swollen midsection as Alfie beamed with joy. “Is baby Solomons.” Tommy paled as she spoke, only just noticing the pregnancy.

        “Jesus Christ.” He muttered beneath his breath.  Mrs Shelby held his hand and gave it a squeeze as she spoke.

        “You’d better head on in before he has a stroke.”

Tommy had just about recovered when the door to the drawing room opened and he heard Arthur exclaim.

         “Fookin’ hell Ada! You bloody kept that quiet, din’t ya?!”

Finn and Aurora Sabini arrived next. Polite and jovial as ever, though Aurora didn’t appear to like the way the youngest Shelby boy looked at his new sister in law. John, Tatiana, Michael and Gina all arrived together. Lawrence ran in from the cold, zooming in circles around Tommy and Mrs Shelby before running past them to the drawing room, banging on the door and yelling “Granma, Granma!”

       “My boy!” Polly called in joy as she came out and greeted him, swooping down and collecting him in her arms before slipping back inside. Gina made a noise of disgust.

       “Thomas.” She acknowledged.

       “Regina.” She scowled as he full named her.

       “So this is you’re newest whore?” She studied Mrs Shelby with critical eyes. “She doesn’t look like much, I’m surprised you’re so taken with her.”

        “She’s worth ten of you, Regina.” He snapped.

       “Michael.” Mrs Shelby smiled warmly. “Thank you for coming.”

        “It’s nice to see you again, love. I hope he’s treating you right.”

        “He is. Very Much.”

        “I took the liberty of bringing a wedding gift. It’s out the front.”

        “That’s very generous of you. Really, you didn’t have to.”

        “Yes, Michael. You didn’t have to.” Gina snapped before stalking off to the drawing room and loudly demanding a drink. Michael winked at Mrs Shelby, smirked at Tommy and left them to it. He turned to greet John and Tatiana and froze.

      “Fuck!” He fumed. “What the fuck are you wearing?!” He looked at John. “What the fuck is she wearing John-boy!”

      “Don’t worry, Thomas.” Tatiana purred sensually. “It’s not for you…or your wife.” She stepped around him, the thin scrap of material she called a dress clinging to her figure. “Tatiana Petrovna Shelby, delighted to make your acquaintance.” Mrs Shelby blushed and stepped closer to Tommy as the Russian duchess invaded her space. Grabbing her jaw, Tatiana kissed both of Mrs Shelby’s cheeks.”

       “She’d got a beautiful neck, Thomas. I can see why you like her.” She paused. “And that ring!” She snatched Mrs Shelby’s hand, admiring the sapphire encrusted in diamonds. She tutted. “I would have thought you’d learned your lesson with sapphires.”

       “They’re a particular favourite of my wife’s.”

       “Grace liked sapphires too.” Tatiana smirked, her dark eyes flickering madly in the candle-light. “Is Lilith here yet?” She changed the subject.

       “Is she the reason you’re dressed like a whore?” Tommy took a swig of the amber liquid in his tumbler. “You not bothered by this John?”

       “As long as I’m the only man she fucks, doesn’t matter to me.” He joked.

       “It’ll only ever be you Johnny.” Tatiana turned and kissed him.

       “Aye, John-boy. As long as you’re a Shelby, she’s not picky.”

       “What’s that supposed to mean?” Mrs Shelby asked, nervously glancing at Tommy.

       “It means that before she chose me, she was fucking Tommy…until she got bored of him.” John answered. 

         “Are we interupptin’ somethin’?” Came Uncle Charlie’s deep gravelly voice. He stopped short to shake Tommy’s hand, flanked by Johnny Doggs, Isiah and Curly. Curly smiled bashfully at Mrs Shelby and handed her some flowers. She blushed.

         “Thank you Curly.”

         “How’re you findin’ us so far, petal?” Johnny Doggs asked loudly.

         “So far I’m struggling to find someone who likes both of us. Polly, Aurora and Gina dislike me, everyone else has a gripe with Tommy.” Johnny Doggs barked out a laugh. “Welcome to the clan!”

          “Families.” Isiah scoffed. “Who’d have em?”

*****

Lilith Rose Shelby was the most beautiful creature Mrs Shelby had ever seen. So beautiful, that the air rocketed out of her lungs when she first saw her. They heard Jack first as he escorted her up the steps and held the door open for her. She looked like a goddess, draped in silk. Tommy was fascinated that Jack never once looked away from her. His only greeting to the new Mrs Shelby was a nod and a smirk. He sneered at Tommy before his attention gravitated back to his wife. She had the most beguiling dark eyes Mrs Shelby had ever seen. They were like pools of endless night. Lilith catapulted herself into Tommy, who embraced her tightly and inhaled her scent. Pomegranate and dark amber. She relaxed into him. Releasing her, Tommy cupped his baby sister’s face in his hands and looked at her for a moment.

     “You grow more and more beautiful every time I see you.” He smiled.

     “Brother.” She spoke quietly….and she sounded like magic. Soft and sensual. “You look well.” She beamed at him. And Mrs Shelby’s heart fluttered at her smile. Jack snaked a hand around Lilith’s waist and pulled her back against him.

      “Shelby.” Jack acknowledged. “Married again? You can’t seem to get em’ to stay, can ya?”

      “Nelson.” Tommy spoke evenly. “I can keep women just fine. In fact, I’ve never had to cross a continent and steal a woman away to make her mine. I suppose that means I have better luck than you.” Lilith covered Jack’s hand with her own.

     “Or,” She interrupted loudly, “It simply means that I was special enough that he had to travel all this way to find me.” Mrs Shelby watched, fascinated as both men melted at Lilith words. Jack kissed Lilith’s forehead and Tommy smiled.

    “Could be.” He agreed. Lilith stepped away from Jack and turned her attention to Mrs Shelby. All the noise fell away. She couldn’t hear anything. Apart from the sound of her blood pulsing through her at a rapid speed. She glanced at her husband, and watched his beautiful lips move as he spoke to Lilith and Jack. She watched Lilith study her, eyes raking over her in an unreadable manner. Mrs Shelby’s finger twitched as Lilith’s eyes pause over her engagement ring, her full soft lips quirking into a small smile for a moment before it vanishes. Mrs Shelby gasped, startled when Lilith unexpectedly stepped forward and smiled at her. Lilith took Mrs Shelby’s left hand in both of hers. Her thumb brushed over the sapphire. Her eyes pierced into Mrs Shelby’s hypnotically and Mrs Shelby found herself transfixed as Thomas brushed a hand up and down her back, comfortingly…. obliviously.

      “Sister.” Lilith tested the word on her tongue as she surveyed Mrs Shelby. “You’ll be good to him, yes?” She sounded so innocent. So angelic. Her eyes held no malice. Mrs Shelby stuttered.

      “Y-Yes. I shall try to be all that he deserves.”

Lilith beamed at her and released her hand. Mrs Shelby’s ring finger throbbed momentarily as she watched her fascinating sister turn and enter the drawing room with Jack. She saw through the reflection in the mirror as Polly embraced her niece tightly and was startled to see Lilith’s reflection gazing predatorily through the looking glass at her.

*****

Dinner was a fucking disaster. It had been nothing like she had hoped. Perhaps she was just projecting her own fears but it seemed that none of them liked her…. even the ones who appeared to. It seemed as though they were watching her every move with a pre-existing negative judgement. She was guilty to them, of something. The problem was she didn’t know what and she didn’t know how to change that. Tommy had enough to deal with, especially after Tatiana had goaded Jack into a row and she was swearing at him in Russian. Arthur had had way too much to drink. Scarlet was screaming at Tommy for something he’d done years ago and Luca was trying desperately to calm her down. She turned to look at Michael, who was in a heated discussion with Gina…and Aurora kept throwing her dirty looks.  In the end she’d left the table, claiming to check on dessert. She’d just found a quiet alcove to take a few moments when someone touched her shoulder. She jolted and turned to see Lilith.

    “Feeling overwhelmed?” Her voice was so soft, sympathy swirled in her onyx eyes.

    “A little.”

A lot. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

    “I know. We can be a lot to handle.” She looked out into the darkened garden. “Why don’t we go for a walk.” She suggested. “Take a moment to ourselves.” Mrs Shelby’s heart soared at the prospect of having a moment alone with someone who might actually like her and in doing so, might sway the opinion of the others. She nodded and took Lilith’s offered arm as the two of them stepped out into the cool autumn air.

It hadn’t been long since they had returned from their honeymoon and so Mrs Shelby hadn’t yet had time to explore the grounds of the Arrow House properly. In the dark murkiness of the evening she couldn’t really see where she was going and clutched on to Lilith’s bare arm a little closer for security. She smelt dizzyingly alluring. Away from all the smoke and whiskey the magic of her perfumed the air in a wonderful way. 

    “How did you meet my brother, if you don’t mind me asking?”

    “Da’s one of his employees at Shelby Company ltd. I met Tommy when I brought Da his lunch.”

    “How…. quaint.”

Mrs Shelby wasn’t paying attention. She was too bust staring at the purple love bites littering Lilith’s creamy throat. Lilith flushed and giggled when she noticed.

    “I’m sorry, I should have covered up more, Jack can get carried away some times.”

    “He’s very fond of you.”

    “And I, him.” Lilith patted Mrs Shelby’s hand. “I never expected to find Jack. But he’s my better half. As Heaven is Arthur’s and Luca is Scarlet’s. We were worried Thomas would never find someone….worthy.” Lilith stopped her movements and released Mrs Shelby’s arm. For the first time, Mrs Shelby noticed her surroundings. Lilith had brought her to the churchyard close to the Arrow House. She turned, only just able to see the outline of it looming in the moonlight. She shivered, looking back to Lilith who was now staring at something in front of her. “Thomas has very specific needs.” Her voice had lost all of its warmth. Mrs Shelby’s mouth ran dry as she read the names on the gravestones in front of her.

Grace Burgess Shelby.

Daughter, Mother, Beloved Wife.

Elizabeth Stark Shelby

Mother, wife, friend. Lost to childbirth.

Something rustled behind them. Lilith turned and smiled adoringly as Jack stepped out of the shadows. Mrs Shelby wondered how he had known where to find them. “You have to be a certain kind of person to survive in this family. Don’t you, my love?”

    “Ya got that right. It’s an honour to love a Shelby…to be prepared to kill and die for them.”

“Thomas needs a fighter.” Lilith reached out and caressed Mrs Shelby’s cheek. “You didn’t fight tonight. You fled, little mouse.” Lilith tutted and stepped closer, so close, Mrs Shelby could feel Lilith’s sweet, warm breath burning against her flesh. “How can I trust that you’ll fulfil him?” Lilith shook her head, looking sad, disappointed even. Jack brushed his wife’s hair off her shoulder, exposing her flesh. He pressed a kiss into the crook of her neck. Mrs Shelby watched Lilith relax a little. “You’re not good enough for him.” Lilith purred softly, Jack’s lips and tongue trailed down Lilith’s neck as she spoke. “Neither of them were, either.” She glanced to the gravestones behind her. “I was lucky with Lizzie; God took care of her. But I had to intervene with Grace.”

  “B-but we’re happy.” Mrs Shelby spluttered, fear creeping into her voice every second longer that she spent in Lilith’s presence.

   “For now. Until he realises that you’re not enough for him.” She paused, relishing in the look of despair on Mrs Shelby’s features. “Don’t worry. He’ll be happier than ever with Eva. They’ll be perfect together.” Jack hummed in agreement with his beloved and imprinted his teeth in a perfect love bite into her neck as she slid home a beautiful carved and somewhat bejewelled blade into Mrs Shelby’s sternum. Mrs Shelby gasped in pain, a sharp sound leaving her soft lips. “She’s earned him, you haven’t.” Lilith continued as she twisted the hilt, a horrible tearing noise was heard before Lilith let go. Mrs Shelby staggered back and fell back against the willow tree overhanging the makeshift graveyard.  Lilith looked down at her blood spattered fingers. Lifting them to her face she licked one, smearing her lips in the substance. Greedily, Jack took her fingers and painted his own mouth with them. Lilith spun in Jack’s arms, giggling and moaning as their lips fused, unbuckling his belt. She murmured something to him and he acquiesced without question, sitting and leaning back against Grace’s headstone. Lilith slipped her dress over her head until she was wearing barely anything in the coldness of the autumn night. She straddled Jack, kissing him deeply before sliding down onto him in the ghostly glow of the full moon.

Mrs Shelby heaved, opening her mouth. She tried to call for help but no sound emerged. Instead she found herself mute, only coughing and spluttering on the crimson blood as it tried to liberate itself from her mouth. Her vision grew blurry for a moment as tears gathered and obscured her sight.

And then she saw them.

The ghosts of Grace Burgess and Lizzie Stark, both completely drenched in blood and staring in horror, not at her but at Lilith and Jack, as he flipped his wife over and took her like an animal. Lizzie’s expression was melancholic. Her hair loose and wild, eyes ceaselessly spilling tears and her mouth agape in silent cries of agony. Her body had been slit open from chest to lower abdomen and still, even in death, she was bleeding. Grace stood beside her still in the gown she wore the night she was murdered. the bullet wound on her chest still wept even though she didn’t. Her face was curiously, disturbingly calm. The sapphire around her neck pulsed and throbbed and pulsed and throbbed. And suddenly Grace wasn’t looking at Lilith and Jack anymore, her pale grey eyes locking onto her second replacement. Mrs Shelby found herself growing shivery and yet unable to move, unable to scramble backwards as the sapphire whispered to her over and over some kind of spell in Romani. The curse…. she recalled hazily as she forced her limbs in an attempt to move. Tommy believed it had been cursed by the Russians. Mrs Shelby’s fingers dug into the soil as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Every movement was excruciating in both pain and in effort. Her eyes fluttered closed in exhaustion and the spell of the sapphire seemed to sing louder and louder, it’s feminine voice echoing seductively in her ears. She realised it was coming not only from the necklace Grace’s ghost wore, but also from the ring on her engagement finger. Struggling, she tried desperately to remove it. But to no avail, it was as though it had fused to her flesh, strangling her finger.

Mrs Shelby’s eyes snapped open. Just in time to see the ghost of Grace stood over her.

“I should feel sorry for you.” Grace whispered. “You’re a victim of this family, just like me.” She paused, licking her discoloured corpse lips. Grace heard it too. She heard that it was Lilith’s voice cursing her inside the blue sapphires, not Tatiana’s. “And Tommy does love you.” There was a moment of silence. “But… I’ve come to realise something.” Grace leaned down and kissed Mrs Shelby’s lips, her ghostly fingers coming up to wrap around Mrs Shelby’s throat. “If I can’t have Tommy…” Grace murmured as she pulled back looking deeply into Mrs Shelby’s eyes.

Her grip tightened...and tightened…and tightened. Mrs Shelby choked and spluttered, her body convulsing. The last thing she saw was Lilith’s dark eyes staring at her over Jack’s shoulder, her nails digging into his back as he held her to him. And Grace’s hoarse voice looming over her.

“Then no one can.”  

[zablife]

@chaosinkest1996 I'm stunned by this incredible work, darl!! You are blowing me away with your writing tonight 🤩 The greetings with the family members were sending me! You captured everyone so perfectly, esp John and Jack. The dialogue was so well-crafted I could hear them saying their lines.

However, the most amazing entrance was saved for Lilith. I adore the way you wrote this! Every second so perfectly choreographed and full of foreshadowing. In short, I found it delightfully clever and so so delicious!! (The bit about Mrs. Shelby catching Lilith's expression in the mirror was *chef's kiss*) And the ensuing chaos of the dinner was exactly as one would expect of a Shelby dinner party, full of tension and drama.

The real surprise comes as Mrs. Shelby and Lilith escape the party for a stroll thru the grounds. Altho I knew not to trust Tommy's wayward little sister, I didn't expect what came next! What a terrifying surprise for the poor Mrs. Shelby. But absolutely fitting that Jack would appear to help his wife in her terrible mission bc he is so completely devoted to her. The fact that her sapphire ring damns her along with Grace makes the tale even more horrific. I was shivering with fear ngl!

Tysm for writing this for my 2K celebration. I've enjoyed reading your work so much! 💕

[fablesfolklore]

Thank you so much @Zablife. I’m so pleased you liked it. I feel I might struggle to write for Arthur. But I think I’ve got Polly and Tommy for sure. I’m glad you liked adult Lilith and her entrance. I wanted to make it seem like Tommy wanted to keep his new wife and Lilith separate for a reason….he knows she’d destroy his wife….but he won’t hide her from her and he loves both of them so much that he kind of ….hopes that she’ll approve. I kind of have the idea that whilst Lilith studies his wife for the first time, he’s waiting with baited breath and is rocking on the balls of his feet like a child….only Lilith could make her brother that nervous. I’m glad you liked the mirror shot. It reminds me of Polly looking in the mirror at Grace on their wedding day. I feel like Lilith has a touch of Polly about her character. I might write a full dinner one shot just for a laugh. The idea of Tatiana screaming at beloved, jealous Jack in Russian whilst Lilith and Heaven sip wine and roll their eyes at each other across the table has me dying. I don’t know why I paired Scarlett with Luca but I suddenly had this thought that they’d be adorable together.

I’m glad Lilith caught you off guard with her plans. She’s evil…but she doesn’t come across that way. She’s empathetic and gentle, approachable. I wanted it to seem like Mrs Shelby was beginning to question what all the hesitation was about. And then BAM! She’d be a great assassin or serial killer…Also Tatiana fancies her (a big red flag if ever there was one). I wanted to heighten her otherness/magical aura. It’s like she casts a spell over whoever she meets. Jack is obsessed with her…she fucking tamed him. And even if people don’t like her they respect her or fear her…like they know she’s dangerous. I like the insinuation that She’s linked to Lizzie’s death as well as Grace’s. It makes me think if she killed off Esme as well. She’ll definitely have frightened Linda away from Arthur for Heaven and she probably set Scarlett and Luca up. I’m glad you enjoyed it and that it scared you a little. I’ll definitely write more for her.

[fablesfolklore]

First Blood

This work is inspired by the spooky season. The OC of Lilith Rose Shelby is my own. The character of Scarlet Shelby belongs to @zablife. I hope you're not offended that I included her. She inspired me with her Shelby energy and in addition you inspired me to write something of my own an post it. So @zablife this is for you, Lee. Hope you like it.

TW: Violence. Domestic Abuse. Lilith is a child for most of this story.

It was true of The Shelby clan that they produced more demons than angels. At least, that was the myth gossiped by the priest and the locals down watery lane. At the age of six Lilith hadn’t really understood why that might have been a bad thing, she just marvelled how that seemed to link them closer to God than most other families. Besides there was only one real demon in that family. Lilith was four when she’d learned not to trust her father. Five when she learned to fear him. And it was only a matter of time before she learned to despise him. Arthur Shelby Sr. was a dreadful human being, a despicable father and an utter bastard. She’d learned she’d receive no love from him only on her last birthday when he’d announced she’d disappointed him by not being a boy.  Naturally, she impaled a fork into his hand and when he’d raised his fist to beat her, Polly had held a knife to his throat. The look on the old weasel’s face had been the best birthday gift her aunt could have got her. Of all the children he had spawned, Arthur seemed to hate his youngest daughter the most. Lilith had been trained by Polly and her mother, as all the other Shelby siblings had been, to avoid their father when he was at home. She’d never known why her mother loved him so much.

Lilith adored her mother. Anna Shelby was the beauty of small heath. She was a gypsy princess of Irish and Russian decent. She was a songbird with a sensitive heart…and the gift. Some whispered she’d been granted it by the devil, who had taken her for his mistress, in recent years. Polly had scoffed when she’d heard Ada repeat what she’d heard….and yet, Polly wouldn’t meet Lilith’s curious gaze. Anna had met and settled down with Arthur Shelby Sr. when her family had settled close to Birmingham. From what Lilith had gathered, her parents romance had been idyllic, a fairy-tale. And so here she was, 2 years later at the age of 8, sat in the kitchen listening to her father shout at her mother and she found herself wandering where it had all gone wrong for the two of them. Polly had gone to the shop and she’d taken Finn. Everyone else had been out of the house when Arthur Sr. Lilith had been the first one back from school, she’d snook in when she’d heard her father swearing and slurring his words in the sitting room. She stared at his jacket in front of her, draped over another chair. Her nose wrinkled as the stench of alcohol assaulted her. Lilith frowned, gritting her teeth when she heard her mother, normally calm and softly spoken, raise her voice. The door was closed, so she couldn’t hear her clearly. Not that it mattered. Arthur’s voice rose above her in volume seconds later and then she heard Anna begin to cry. The sound pulled on Lilith’s heart strings and tugged at her tear ducts. She slid off the chair and approached the sitting room.

If daddy wants to shout at someone, he can shout at me.

But as she grasped the handle and turned it slightly, she hesitated. He didn’t know she was there, neither of them did. She could sneak out and fetch Tommy. Her eyes lit up at the prospect of her favourite big brother breaking her father’s wrist…or face. Either would be fine. Yes, that would do, he could pick on someone his own size. Someone who wasn’t frightened of him. Lilith turned and ran to fetch Tommy. She got as far as the back door when she heard it. Her mother fall. She froze, shivering all over. Lilith wasn’t sure what she’d heard until she returned to the sitting room door, her feet having taken her there involuntarily. She stood at the crack, peeping through at her mother. Anna was on the floor, clutching her head from where she’d bashed it on the chair leg. Arthur stood over her, laughing silently at her with his cruel mean eyes.

    “Arthur, please. Please, Arthur. I’m sorry I shouted, I won’t do it again. Please Arthur. No. No. Stop, No! Please!”

     Anna’s quiet pleading, her soft, heartbroken begging dissolved into sobs and cries of pain as Arthur descended upon her with his fists. Anna did her best to fend him off, but he was so much stronger than her. Lilith watched, mouth agape in horror and eyes streaming with tears as her mother submitted herself to the torture and curled up as best as she could to protect herself.

How long had this been happening? All of her life?

Lilith had never questioned it when her father had tried to hurt her. As far as she was aware it was customary for all fathers to beat their children when they’d disobeyed or angered them. She’d never thought for a second that he’d hurt her mother though. Not when Anna doted on him. The only person in the world capable of loving him…and he treated her like that.

Anna released a loud wail as Arthur pulled her hair back and smacked her hard on the mouth. Lilith, unable to stand her mother’s sobs any longer nor the sound of Arthur’s flesh impacting violently against Anna’s delicate figure, sprinted to the kitchen, desperate to do something, anything to help her mother. Climbing up on Tommy’s chair, she pulled open one of the draws and picked it up. The kitchen knife was heavy in her hand, weighing her delicate little arm down. But she held it firm, hopping back down off the counter and landing silently…not that her father would have heard her over his own shouts. Lilith watched him, hulking over her mother like some kind of monstrous animal, drunk and cruel as ever he could be.

“Mad bitch.” He called Anna. She didn’t deserve that.

Mummy, how can you love him?

Something cold and angry in Lilith snapped and hissed angrily inside her. It was vicious and crimson and she swallowed the venom it offered her with determination. Lilith didn’t love him. That was something she was certain of as she stepped into the sitting room, approaching him from behind, quiet as she could be so he didn’t hear her. The blade glinted in the sunlight as she sprang at him from behind. Arthur Sr. Yelped out in agony as the sharp blade sank into his thigh. It heightened to a scream as Lilith ripped it out and plunged it back into his knee. She delighted in the noise he made, pleased that he was the one making it instead of Anna. The last thing Lilith registered before the bloodlust descended and the noise fell away was the sound of metal slicing through bone.

“GET!” His knee buckled as she pulled the blade out once again. Lilith continued her assault mercilessly as she tore at him with the knife. “OFF!” His calf, his thigh again, his other leg, his foot, his forearm, his shoulder. “MY!” Nothing else mattered except the look of utter horror on his ugly twisted features. “MUMMY!” He tried to grab at her once but she was fast and small, easily blocking his arms. “YOU!” The sharp end of the knife went through his palm and his breath hitched, eyes widening when she yanked it back out. “MONSTER!” She hoped it was as painful as it looked.  She was so numb, so far gone that she didn’t hear the door open. She didn’t see them all rushing in. She didn’t see Polly gasp, her hands cupping her mouth, eyes wide. Shopping crashing loudly to the floor. She didn’t see Finn, flinching back behind Polly’s skirts eyes scrunched closed. She didn’t hear John swear or Scarlet drop her nursing books. She didn’t feel the vibration of them clunking to the floor. She didn’t see Ada rush to her mother and wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. She didn’t hear Arthur yelling for her to stop. She didn’t see Tommy look between the three of them and putting two and two together. What a sight she must have been for them. An eight-year-old girl splattered from head to toe in her father’s blood.

In the end it was Anna’s voice that cut through the bloodlust.

   “Lily! Lily, darling stop! Please! Stop! You’ll kill him.” Anna cried, pushing herself up off the floor.

    “WHAT DOES IT MATTER?” Lilith embedded the knife into his other knee with a sickening crunch. “HE HURT YOU!” Arthur Sr. squealed like a pig. Ripping it out once more she raised her the blade again when a strong hand gripped her wrist until her grip loosened and the blade fell, clattering to the floor. She was lifted with ease away from her father and spun until she was face to face with Tommy as he shielded her view of him. She’d been so lost in the moment that she hadn’t heard them come in. All of them. Polly picked the knife up off the floor and wiped it with her skirts. Lilith looked Tommy in the eyes. Those big ocean blue eyes that were wide with utter terror as he checked her over.

   “Are you hurt, Lily petal?” He asked urgently. The numbness melted away. The damn broke and emotion flooded in.

   “I’m not sorry Tommy! I’m not sorry!” She wailed. “He was hitting mummy! He deserved it!” Her voice cracked and her breath stuttered as she burrowed her head into his neck. Tommy embraced her without a second thought, rocking her back and forth in as calming a manner as he could think.

Lilith’s accusations rang out into the shell shocked room. Polly was the first to take action.

    “Get up!” She snapped at her brother. His angry little eyes glowered back at her in spite of the pain rocketing through him. Polly sighed, irritated. “Scarlet, Arthur, help your father onto the settee. Ada grab a sheet to cover it with. Scarlet I want you to help me sew him up. John, go and bribe Doctor Clarkson to come and help. Anna,” She paused, looking at her good sister. She softened instantly seeing the bruises already forming on her melancholic face. “Are you badly hurt?” Anna parted her lips, ready to speak when Lilith wriggled and vaulted out of Tommy’s hold, running to her mother.

     “I’m sorry, mummy! I’m sorry! Please don’t be angry with me.” Lilith wailed. Anna’s eyes welled with tears. She pulled her youngest daughter into her arms and embraced her tightly.

    “I’m not angry.” Her voice wobbled. “I’ll never be angry with you. Only sad. You protected me. You shouldn’t have had to do that, petal.” Ada returned, covering the settee with a spare old bedsheet.  Arthur Sr. wheezed as Arthur and a rather reluctant Scarlet helped him up (with minimal care on her part) and to the settee. He opened his mouth and Scarlet punched one of his injuries hard. It bloomed red and he hissed in pain.

      “You say a word and I’ll make sure you’re hurting more than you are already!” She snapped.

      “Don’t be harsh, Scar, he’s our dad. Where’s that bedside manner you were telling us about?” Arthur Jr. asked, trying to ease the tension.

       “He doesn’t fucking deserve it, Arthur.” She shot him a sharp look. Before looking to Tommy. “You’ll have to help Arthur take dad’s trousers off.” Her older brother scowled at the prospect but stalked over none the less. The door flung open once again as John returned, very much out of breath. He nearly doubled over with exhaustion. Behind him waddled in, Doctor Clarkson, flushed and barely upright himself. The old doctor had just righted himself when his eyes widened and mouth fell open as he looked at his patient.

    “Can you fix ‘im?” Polly asked, eyes sharp on the old man. Doctor Clarkson’s resemblance to a deer in headlights heightened as his eyes darted around the room. The empathy seeped back into them when he caught sight of Anna and Lilith, bruised and bloody. He straightened and stepped forward.

    “Let me look at him.”

    “It would be preferable if he didn’t have to go to a hospital.” Tommy spoke calmly. “People will talk.” Doctor Clarkson approached Arthur Sr. and carefully examined his injuries. The look of concern on his elderly face deepened. 

     “You’re lucky. They’re not too deep, for the most part, easy enough to handle.” The doctor removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.

      “Scarlet and I can help.” Polly suggested. The doctor nodded.

      “That would be sufficient.” He opened his physician’s bag, pulling out what he needed. “What worries me are these.” He pointed at Arthur’s knees, hand and ankle. “The knife has penetrated bone.” He paused, lowering his voice for only Polly to hear. “I take it the child was defending her mother?” Polly nodded. “She did a thorough job.” He smiled at her. “He’ll need a hospital.”

       “No!” Tommy’s deep voice cut through the conversation. “He’s got a big mouth, he’ll talk.”

       “And what will he say, Mr. Shelby? That his eight-year-old daughter did this to him?”

       “He has a point.” John spoke up. “No one would believe him.”

       “Not only does it sound far-fetched.” Ada sat down and locked eyes with her father. She maintained the stare. “Think of the humiliation.”

       “He doesn’t have to say it was Lily. He could say it was any of us.”

       “No Tom!” Arthur looked pleadingly at his brother, “It’s dad, he wouldn’t rat on any of us.” Tommy shook his head at Arthur’s naivety. He was still just a young boy at heart, wanting to please his father.

       “Arthur, why don’t you help Ada make some tea?” Polly suggested. Arthur opened his mouth ready to argue when Ada took his hand.

       “Come on.” She pulled him through to the kitchen. When Tommy was sure he was out of ear shot, he stood over his father, looking down on him with disdain.

        “He can go to a hospital.” He spoke to Doctor Clarkson. “But it can’t be in small heath.”

        “I can send him to a colleague of mine in London.”

         “I have one condition.”

         “Name it.”

         “It’s not for you, it’s for him. And before I let him out of this house, he’ll have to agree to it.”

         “What is it, boy?” His father spat.

         “You’ll be gone in the morning. You’ll leave small heath, and you’ll never ever come back.”

         “Tommy-” Anna’s voice was sad.

         “No, mum.” Tommy stood firm, “He’s made us miserable for long enough. If he knows what’s good for him he’ll leave.”

          “He can be someone else’s problem.” Polly said. Arthur Sr. looked disgruntled as he thought it through. Lilith didn’t know what possessed her to look at him, or to approach, but she suddenly found herself stood in front of him.

         “You hate us all, daddy. So just say yes.” Her dark onyx eyes stared into him and he shifted uncomfortably, and yet unable to look away. He nodded to Tommy.

         “I’ll do it. I’ll leave. I swear, I won’t come back.” At his words, Anna began to softly cry again, looking at the floor in shame. Lilith maintained eye contact with her father. A battle of wills being fought between them. No way in hell would she be bullied by him. She smirked, recalling how he squealed when she’d butchered him.

          “I’m not sorry.” She whispered. “Don’t ever come back.”

*****

He was gone. It was done. Lilith had watched from the top of the stairs as they’d taken him to the canal boat Uncle Charlie had prepared. He’d not asked questions when Tommy had spoken quietly with him. He’d simply looked at Anna and agreed to whatever Tommy had told him. Anna had been inconsolable for the better part of the evening. Arthur Sr. never once looked at his wife as he was carted off to the canal boat that would take him to the infirmary in London. Even as she called his name tenderly.

      “Have you nothing to say?!” Polly snapped at him, arm wrapped around Anna’s shoulders. The horrible excuse for a husband merely gritted his teeth and stared hard ahead. Ignoring Anna like it was all her fault. Ada had stripped Lilith bare and bathed her, tenderly cleansing the blood on her hands and face. John took her dress and the bed sheet and built a fire in the backyard for them.

     “I’m not sorry.” Lilith kept saying quietly as she rocked back and forth in the warm water. “I’m not sorry.” She looked up at Polly when she came and joined them, alone. “Where’s mummy?”

      “She’s gone to bed, darling.”

      “I’ve made her sad, haven’t I?” Tears welled in Lilith’s eyes. “I don’t want mummy to go away again. Not like she did before. I want her to be happy. I want her to stay.” Polly hushed her, kissing her forehead soothingly as she took the soap and began to wash Lilith’s thick dark hair.

      “Nonsense. You could never make your mother sad.” She stopped and leaned into whisper. “You and Tommy are her favourites.” She winked and Lilith managed a wobbly smile. “Loving my idiot brother made her sad.”

       “Why does she love him?” Lilith asked curiously. Her forehead crinkled as she concentrated on the thought. Lilith couldn’t understand what her father had about him that made her mother care about him.”

        “It’s a mystery to us all.” Polly scoffed as she rinsed the suds out of Lilith’s hair, the soft pads of her fingers massaging the little girl’s scalp. Lilith’s eyes fluttered as her body grew relaxed and sleepy. “But,” Polly began again, sounding sadder than before, “Your father wasn’t always like this. Once upon a time he was charming, handsome and good natured.” She sighed. “Life changed him.”

        “I hope life doesn’t change me like that.”

        “It won’t. I’ll make sure it doesn’t.”

*****

Cobalt eyes watch her through the crack in the door. Her small hands are clutching Polly’s cards as she places them on the table, humming happily as she does so.

     “Come on in, Tommy and close the door.” She calls behind her. “It’s cold.” Tommy enters without hesitation, her innocent voice like a spell over him. There was something uncanny about how she seemed to know when Thomas was close to her. Like they were linked by invisible string. Light and Dark. Two sides of the same coin.

     “What are you doing with those ey?” He asked, as he pulled out the chair beside her and sat, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

     “Polly said I could read if he would ever come back.”  Lilith spoke matter of factly. Tommy went cold.

Yes, Polly. Good idea to let my eight-year-old sister delve into gypsy magic without supervision.

     “He won’t, Lily. Daddy’s gone, alright. I promise, he’s not coming back.” The firmness in her voice caught her off guard and she looked up at him. Onyx met cobalt and his certainty, his confidence was shaken.

     “He will.” She spoke quietly. “But don’t worry, I’ll be older and less helpless. Besides, I’ve taken a precaution.” Something in the way she spoke made him nervous. Worry chiselled away at him. He cleared his throat.

     “What precaution?”

Lilith smiled as she looked at Tommy. She pointed at the tarot deck.

     “There’s you.” She pointed at The Chariot card. “There’s me.” She pointed at The Empress. “And there’s daddy in the middle.” She pointed to the card in the middle. The Emperor. “With his head cut off.”

      Tommy paled and shuddered at the way she spoke it dreamily. Polly’s small pocket knife (which she’d no doubt stolen from her aunt) was still lodged in the wood of the table where she had sliced the top half of The Emperor’s card. He knelt down beside Lilith at the table, taking her small hands in his, making her look at him.

      “I know he frightened you and hurt mummy. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. But I promise you, he’ll never be allowed to hurt any of us ever again.”

      “I know.” She smiled.

*****

Anna threw herself into the canal a week later. Lilith had been inconsolable, cursing her father for his part in Anna’s misery. She hid herself away, refusing to talk about her mother. Tommy should have known then what she’d be capable of. Instead he’d had to wait fifteen years to hear from his spies. He’d dressed it up all nice for Arthur. Invented an imaginary woman, two scoundrels and a gun. He’d had Mary the maid forge the letter and told his brothers that their father had died on the other side of the world. The truth was too terrible. No one needed to know that Alfie had seen her, stood over their father like an angel of vengeance whilst he begged for mercy and told her she looked like her mother. No one needed to know that he’d been found down a dark alley in Camden, head severed from his body.

       And there’s daddy, with his head cut off.

Tommy drained the whiskey from his tumbler and shuddered. Yes, it was true. The Shelby clan did indeed produce more demons than angels. And Lilith Rose Shelby, though Thomas loved her with all of his heart, was the most dangerous kind of demon…. she was an angel who didn’t know she’d fallen yet.

[zablife]

@chaosinkest1996 Darling, I'm in love with your feisty little OC!! And what an incredible introduction you've given us here! It's utterly heartbreaking to see the trauma Lilith has endured as a small child and thinking about how it shapes her as an adult. We know from canon what a bastard Arthur Sr. can be, but this gives life to the very worst nightmares of who he could be.

Likewise, Tommy's mum is a mystery in canon, but I adore the details you've provided here to fill in the gaps. She seems like a gentle, caring mum and a devoted wife. However, the fact that she returns to her husband time and time again after unspeakable acts of violence out of a misplaced sense of love and duty only adds to the pathos of the story.

Lilith's decision to protect her mum in a sudden fit of rage and the aftermath is such a clever choice to explain Arthur Sr.'s departure. I'm loving the bit of justice for both Anna and Lilith. However, I can't help but mourn the loss of Lilith's childhood as she sits reading the tarot cards afterward. Her fate is sealed that day and Tommy doesn't know it yet. I must say those last paragraphs were haunting, realizing the corrosive poison she carries within her after all those years.

Amazing job exploring this complicated family dynamic! Of course I adore the fact that you've included my OC, Scarlet here. What a lovely tribute! This is not an easy dynamic to explore, but somehow you've managed it beautifully. I congratulate you on writing your first fic and I hope you'll share more with us soon! Love and light ✨

[fablesfolklore]

Thank you so much @zablife Lee. I love Lilith as well. I think she makes a wonderful addition to the Shelby clan. I kind of wanted to show a slightly softer pre-war Tommy, in addition to showing what I imagined growing up with a father like that would have been like. I think they all probably would have experienced trauma from him at some point. Especially Arthur. I feel like he’s sort of been emotionally blackmailed or brainwashed by him because he was his ‘first born son’ and ‘heir’ as well as being named after him whereas Tommy was the one who saw him for what he was (I think he was a mummy’s boy).

I kind of wanted to explore Anna’s depression through a child’s eyes and I hope I did an ok job. Lilith knows mummy is sad but she’s not quite reached Tommy or Polly’s understanding of it yet so she wants to do something to make it better which I feel adds a softness to her creepiness. I like how tragic Tommy’s mum is. She’s too good for this world and was of a sensitive disposition. I didn’t like how in the series they made it seem like she was weak for committing suicide and so I wanted it to show. She knows she shouldn’t love Arthur Sr. and she knows her children should be enough. But they can’t save her. I imagine that Lilith secretly feels a lot of guilt for it as well as rage.

I wanted to make Lilith seem otherworldly. Not quite human. There’s something about her that’s magical and creepy. She’s one of them but she’s not. She’s them…. but more. Which is why Arthur’s unnerved by her. Whether she actually has power or not is another discussion but I wanted to give her an eerie character…even though she is quite angelic.

Tommy living with what she’s done was my favourite bit to write. Knowing that he should have seen it coming. Knowing that she’s either cursed it to happen or she’d stumbled upon him and did it anyway. Knowing that most of all she’d still turn and say, “I’m not sorry.” Knowing that she’s still his really hurt creepy little sister who had to become a monster because no one else had the guts to stand up to Arthur Sr. Maybe it makes them all feel like cowards.

I’m glad you enjoyed Scarlet’s cameo. I thought she’d be the type to be close to her mother as well as have very little bed side manner (at least with her dad). I hope I did her justice. I’m so happy you liked it. I’m feeling a little bit bashful.

[fablesfolklore]

In The Graveyard with Lilith Rose Shelby (and Jack Nelson)

This work is inspired by @zablife and her 2K celebration: An Evening at The Arrow House. The OC of Lilith Rose Shelby is my own. The characters of Scarlet Shelby, Aurora Sabini, Heaven Shelby and Eva Smith belong to @zablife, @evita-shelby and @call-sign-shark. I only mentioned them because they inspired me. Eva is only mentioned by name but I did my best to do Scarlet and Heaven justice. Thank you for inspiring me.

TW: Violence, Sexual Content, Swearing.

Lilith Rose Shelby was all grown up. She’d flown the coop and (unlike most members of the Shelby clan) had miraculously escaped the clutches of Tommy’s schemes. Some suspected that her untapped freedom had to do with her immense luck in life… but for those who knew better….it was because Thomas Shelby loved no one more than his youngest sister. No one held such an influence over the greatest gangster turned MP in all of Great Britain (and its dominions) than Lilith, no one else had the keys to his smile or to his heart. You might ask Why, then, she was allowed to roam free? Not shackled to the Arrow House as Ada had once been to the shithole in small heath. Not obligated to attend every family dinner or family meeting that Tommy threw whenever he felt like it.

       “Why?” The new Mrs Shelby kissed up Tommy’s back as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Will she not meet me?” Of all the people she desired to make a friend of in this family, Mrs Shelby wanted to make the best first impression on her mysterious good sister. Everyone spoke of her with reverence. Lilith’s name was the very essence of sorcery. Once spoken, even whispered in corridors and in dark corners, a shiver danced up one’s spine…or one’s blood spiked with adrenalin and excitement.  

Thomas bristled and stiffened, not responding. Mrs Shelby paused, a pout forming on her nervous lips. In truth, she had expected for Thomas to be eager for his new wife to meet Lilith. The siblings were so close, that she’d expected for her to have been the first person he’d have introduced her to. Instead she was met with a cagey Thomas.

       “Lilith doesn’t like Arrow House.” He deflected easily, lighting a cigarette as he stood up and wandered to the window, looking out into the foggy grey autumnal morning. He exhaled some smoke in the way that had her swooning, before he spoke again. “It reminds her of Grace.” Mrs Shelby’s heart dropped. Grace, the woman whose shadow she was forever enshrouded by. She didn’t openly wish to express her dislike of Grace or Lizzie, but she was beginning to despise them. She knew their spirits were mourned and honoured in this house…. if only by the staff and the children. It was complicated. But she hated being compared to them, hated the way the children refused to acknowledge her but would gaze in awe at the portraits of their respective mothers. It made her feel like a replacement…. nothing more. Perhaps Lilith would think the same of her. She chewed on her lip.

        “She must have loved Grace a lot.” She mused. Tommy scoffed.

        “On the contrary, Lilith hated Grace.” He licked his lips, glancing at his wife. He’d put it politely for her, spared some of the details. No one hated Grace more than Tommy’s beloved little demoness. “She disliked Lizzie as well, but for different reasons.”

        “Oh.”

        “Grace betrayed me. Lilith refused to forgive that. The only reason she refrained from dancing with joy when she died was that she loved me too much.”

        “And Lizzie?”

        “Lizzie broke John’s heart.”  Tommy spoke casually, remorselessly as though he’d had nothing to do with it.

        “I’ve not done anything to hurt anyone.” Mrs Shelby sulked, looking at the floor. Tommy strolled back over to the bed and took her into his arms.

        “Quite right.” He kissed her forehead. “Perhaps it’s not such a bad idea to invite her this weekend.”

        “But she hates the Arrow House.”

        “She’ll come for the family, and for me. The kids will be delighted to see her”

        “She’s good with them?” Her interest was piqued. Perhaps Lilith could shed light on the way to Charlie and Ruby’s hearts.

        “She dotes on them.” He smiled, a real genuine smile. “They’re mine, after all.”

*****

Mrs Shelby skipped towards Tommy, her letter filled left hand raised in triumph. Her sparkling sapphire engagement ring sparkled in the light.

     “They’re coming.” She kissed him joyously. “They’re all coming.”

     “All?” He chuckled.

     “All.” She confirmed. “And they’re all staying. Scarlet and Luca will stay in the room opposite Finn and Aurora. Alfie and Ada will stay in the room opposite Polly and Aberamma.” Tommy smiled as she babbled out her arrangements. He imagined it was a good idea that Alfie and Arthur should stay in separate wings of the house…. otherwise Ada and Heaven would be forced to intervene, and no one wanted a mess. Gina and Michael would go next to Ada and Alfie. John and Tatiana would have to be kept in the room next to Tommy and Mrs Shelby so he could keep an eye on that mad bitch. Speaking of that insane Russian duchess…. she’d have to be kept as far away from Lilith and her beloved husband, Jack Nelson. Last Christmas had been a disaster when Tatiana – having had way too much to drink – announced that herself and Lilith had been lovers for the entire year before Lilith had met Jack. Jack had hated her guts since. The children would have three whole rooms to themselves. Something Mrs Shelby wasn’t sure was appropriate, but something Tommy had insisted was necessary.

     “They all love being together.” He insisted. “And it’s not like we’re giving them the entire house.”

     “I’m still so shocked they’re all coming.” She smiled dreamily up at him. “I’ve always wanted a big family.”

     “Well, now you have one.”

     “You never told me Lilith was married.”

     “Ah.” Tommy looked sheepish. “I didn’t think she’d bring him.”

Two years ago she’d eloped with Jack Nelson, the last man on earth Tommy had thought suitable or good enough for Lilith. Jack Nelson was everything Tommy (ironically) hated. He was unfaithful, violent, a fascistic Irish American and he was the most obnoxious, ambitious, cunning bastard he’d ever encountered…It was like looking in an ever so slightly warped mirror. His dislike of the American hadn’t stopped Lilith marrying him though…And yet somehow, the marriage worked. Jack followed the little Shelby witch round like a lost puppy, salivating whenever she looked at him. It was like she held some sort of magical enchantment over him. The loved up pair made Thomas feel a little bit sick. Mrs Shelby smiled teasingly.

      “You can’t stand him, can you?”

      “He’s not good enough for her.” He grouched. “But for some unfathomable reason, he makes her happy. That’s enough for me.” From the way he gritted his teeth it seemed like that hardest thing he’d ever had to say.

      “Everyone thinks you’re a big bad gangster…but I know you’re really just a big softy.”

      “Don’t go telling everyone, ey.” He laughed, “I have a reputation to uphold.” Wrapping his arms around her waist he hoisted her up onto the table, taking her lips with his own. Someone coughed. Tommy turned to see Mary, the maid.

       “The house is all prepared for the guests, Mr Shelby.”

        “Thank you, Mary. That will be all.” She nodded, turning to leave but not before she eyed Mrs Shelby with frigid, calculating eyes. Thomas didn’t seem to notice though as he shifted his attention back to Mrs Shelby as his fingers slid beneath the hem of her dress.

*****

They were nothing like she expected. None of them. Polly arrived first, gliding in like the image of sophistication, barely glancing at Mrs Shelby. Aberamma following closely at her heels. He grunted in greeting, simply tilting his head after removing his hat. Arthur and Heaven arrived at the same time as Scarlet and Luca. Arthur’s greeting had been sweet. He seemed to like her, spluttering over his words to greet her. His hands shook and his eyes looked a little wild. But he meant well. Heaven waltzed in behind him, looking like an angel in her white fur coat. The snow haired beauty’s presence seemed to ease Arthur’s nervousness. He wrapped his arm around her waist as she held out her hand for Mrs Shelby to shake.

     “You must be Heaven.” Mrs Shelby stuttered, transfixed by her crystalline eyes.

     “Pleasure.” Heaven’s eyes slid to Tommy and her expression instantly shifted to a predatory one. “Bastard.” She acknowledged with a cat like smile.

      “Yes. He is.” Scarlet stated as she sauntered through, pushing her way past them and following Polly into the drawing room.

      “You’re not going to say hello, Tesoro?” Luca paused in the hallway, smiling at Mary as she took his hat and coat.

       “There’s no point in greeting Tommy’s latest victim. Knowing him, she won’t last the year.” Scarlet called back. Tommy watched Mrs Shelby’s confidence dissipate momentarily. Headlights glowed in the driveway.

       “Heaven, why don’t you take Arthur and Luca into the drawing room.” Tommy suggested. Heaven’s icy eyes hardened before narrowing at him. Her lips parted in order to respond in a somewhat poisonous manner but Mrs Shelby stepped forward and whispered to her.

       “I wouldn’t normally agree with Tommy but Alfie’s just arrived.” Heaven observed the mouse like woman Tommy had married for a moment before she nodded, escorting her husband and brother in law to the drawing room. Music blared as the door opened and Mrs Shelby could see the reflection of Scarlet in the large mirror as she turned the gramophone up.

       “SHALOM Thomas!” Roared the bear of a man as he wandered in. Ada rolled her eyes beside him. She hugged Thomas tightly before embracing Mrs Shelby, much to her surprise.

       “I hope they’ve not been too scathing to you.” She whispered. “Don’t worry, they’ll warm to you with time.” She pulled back and smiled. “This is my son, Karl, my daughter, Elizabeth and this,” She brushed her hand over her swollen midsection as Alfie beamed with joy. “Is baby Solomons.” Tommy paled as she spoke, only just noticing the pregnancy.

        “Jesus Christ.” He muttered beneath his breath.  Mrs Shelby held his hand and gave it a squeeze as she spoke.

        “You’d better head on in before he has a stroke.”

Tommy had just about recovered when the door to the drawing room opened and he heard Arthur exclaim.

         “Fookin’ hell Ada! You bloody kept that quiet, din’t ya?!”

Finn and Aurora Sabini arrived next. Polite and jovial as ever, though Aurora didn’t appear to like the way the youngest Shelby boy looked at his new sister in law. John, Tatiana, Michael and Gina all arrived together. Lawrence ran in from the cold, zooming in circles around Tommy and Mrs Shelby before running past them to the drawing room, banging on the door and yelling “Granma, Granma!”

       “My boy!” Polly called in joy as she came out and greeted him, swooping down and collecting him in her arms before slipping back inside. Gina made a noise of disgust.

       “Thomas.” She acknowledged.

       “Regina.” She scowled as he full named her.

       “So this is you’re newest whore?” She studied Mrs Shelby with critical eyes. “She doesn’t look like much, I’m surprised you’re so taken with her.”

        “She’s worth ten of you, Regina.” He snapped.

       “Michael.” Mrs Shelby smiled warmly. “Thank you for coming.”

        “It’s nice to see you again, love. I hope he’s treating you right.”

        “He is. Very Much.”

        “I took the liberty of bringing a wedding gift. It’s out the front.”

        “That’s very generous of you. Really, you didn’t have to.”

        “Yes, Michael. You didn’t have to.” Gina snapped before stalking off to the drawing room and loudly demanding a drink. Michael winked at Mrs Shelby, smirked at Tommy and left them to it. He turned to greet John and Tatiana and froze.

      “Fuck!” He fumed. “What the fuck are you wearing?!” He looked at John. “What the fuck is she wearing John-boy!”

      “Don’t worry, Thomas.” Tatiana purred sensually. “It’s not for you…or your wife.” She stepped around him, the thin scrap of material she called a dress clinging to her figure. “Tatiana Petrovna Shelby, delighted to make your acquaintance.” Mrs Shelby blushed and stepped closer to Tommy as the Russian duchess invaded her space. Grabbing her jaw, Tatiana kissed both of Mrs Shelby’s cheeks.”

       “She’d got a beautiful neck, Thomas. I can see why you like her.” She paused. “And that ring!” She snatched Mrs Shelby’s hand, admiring the sapphire encrusted in diamonds. She tutted. “I would have thought you’d learned your lesson with sapphires.”

       “They’re a particular favourite of my wife’s.”

       “Grace liked sapphires too.” Tatiana smirked, her dark eyes flickering madly in the candle-light. “Is Lilith here yet?” She changed the subject.

       “Is she the reason you’re dressed like a whore?” Tommy took a swig of the amber liquid in his tumbler. “You not bothered by this John?”

       “As long as I’m the only man she fucks, doesn’t matter to me.” He joked.

       “It’ll only ever be you Johnny.” Tatiana turned and kissed him.

       “Aye, John-boy. As long as you’re a Shelby, she’s not picky.”

       “What’s that supposed to mean?” Mrs Shelby asked, nervously glancing at Tommy.

       “It means that before she chose me, she was fucking Tommy…until she got bored of him.” John answered. 

         “Are we interupptin’ somethin’?” Came Uncle Charlie’s deep gravelly voice. He stopped short to shake Tommy’s hand, flanked by Johnny Doggs, Isiah and Curly. Curly smiled bashfully at Mrs Shelby and handed her some flowers. She blushed.

         “Thank you Curly.”

         “How’re you findin’ us so far, petal?” Johnny Doggs asked loudly.

         “So far I’m struggling to find someone who likes both of us. Polly, Aurora and Gina dislike me, everyone else has a gripe with Tommy.” Johnny Doggs barked out a laugh. “Welcome to the clan!”

          “Families.” Isiah scoffed. “Who’d have em?”

*****

Lilith Rose Shelby was the most beautiful creature Mrs Shelby had ever seen. So beautiful, that the air rocketed out of her lungs when she first saw her. They heard Jack first as he escorted her up the steps and held the door open for her. She looked like a goddess, draped in silk. Tommy was fascinated that Jack never once looked away from her. His only greeting to the new Mrs Shelby was a nod and a smirk. He sneered at Tommy before his attention gravitated back to his wife. She had the most beguiling dark eyes Mrs Shelby had ever seen. They were like pools of endless night. Lilith catapulted herself into Tommy, who embraced her tightly and inhaled her scent. Pomegranate and dark amber. She relaxed into him. Releasing her, Tommy cupped his baby sister’s face in his hands and looked at her for a moment.

     “You grow more and more beautiful every time I see you.” He smiled.

     “Brother.” She spoke quietly….and she sounded like magic. Soft and sensual. “You look well.” She beamed at him. And Mrs Shelby’s heart fluttered at her smile. Jack snaked a hand around Lilith’s waist and pulled her back against him.

      “Shelby.” Jack acknowledged. “Married again? You can’t seem to get em’ to stay, can ya?”

      “Nelson.” Tommy spoke evenly. “I can keep women just fine. In fact, I’ve never had to cross a continent and steal a woman away to make her mine. I suppose that means I have better luck than you.” Lilith covered Jack’s hand with her own.

     “Or,” She interrupted loudly, “It simply means that I was special enough that he had to travel all this way to find me.” Mrs Shelby watched, fascinated as both men melted at Lilith words. Jack kissed Lilith’s forehead and Tommy smiled.

    “Could be.” He agreed. Lilith stepped away from Jack and turned her attention to Mrs Shelby. All the noise fell away. She couldn’t hear anything. Apart from the sound of her blood pulsing through her at a rapid speed. She glanced at her husband, and watched his beautiful lips move as he spoke to Lilith and Jack. She watched Lilith study her, eyes raking over her in an unreadable manner. Mrs Shelby’s finger twitched as Lilith’s eyes pause over her engagement ring, her full soft lips quirking into a small smile for a moment before it vanishes. Mrs Shelby gasped, startled when Lilith unexpectedly stepped forward and smiled at her. Lilith took Mrs Shelby’s left hand in both of hers. Her thumb brushed over the sapphire. Her eyes pierced into Mrs Shelby’s hypnotically and Mrs Shelby found herself transfixed as Thomas brushed a hand up and down her back, comfortingly…. obliviously.

      “Sister.” Lilith tested the word on her tongue as she surveyed Mrs Shelby. “You’ll be good to him, yes?” She sounded so innocent. So angelic. Her eyes held no malice. Mrs Shelby stuttered.

      “Y-Yes. I shall try to be all that he deserves.”

Lilith beamed at her and released her hand. Mrs Shelby’s ring finger throbbed momentarily as she watched her fascinating sister turn and enter the drawing room with Jack. She saw through the reflection in the mirror as Polly embraced her niece tightly and was startled to see Lilith’s reflection gazing predatorily through the looking glass at her.

*****

Dinner was a fucking disaster. It had been nothing like she had hoped. Perhaps she was just projecting her own fears but it seemed that none of them liked her…. even the ones who appeared to. It seemed as though they were watching her every move with a pre-existing negative judgement. She was guilty to them, of something. The problem was she didn’t know what and she didn’t know how to change that. Tommy had enough to deal with, especially after Tatiana had goaded Jack into a row and she was swearing at him in Russian. Arthur had had way too much to drink. Scarlet was screaming at Tommy for something he’d done years ago and Luca was trying desperately to calm her down. She turned to look at Michael, who was in a heated discussion with Gina…and Aurora kept throwing her dirty looks.  In the end she’d left the table, claiming to check on dessert. She’d just found a quiet alcove to take a few moments when someone touched her shoulder. She jolted and turned to see Lilith.

    “Feeling overwhelmed?” Her voice was so soft, sympathy swirled in her onyx eyes.

    “A little.”

A lot. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

    “I know. We can be a lot to handle.” She looked out into the darkened garden. “Why don’t we go for a walk.” She suggested. “Take a moment to ourselves.” Mrs Shelby’s heart soared at the prospect of having a moment alone with someone who might actually like her and in doing so, might sway the opinion of the others. She nodded and took Lilith’s offered arm as the two of them stepped out into the cool autumn air.

It hadn’t been long since they had returned from their honeymoon and so Mrs Shelby hadn’t yet had time to explore the grounds of the Arrow House properly. In the dark murkiness of the evening she couldn’t really see where she was going and clutched on to Lilith’s bare arm a little closer for security. She smelt dizzyingly alluring. Away from all the smoke and whiskey the magic of her perfumed the air in a wonderful way. 

    “How did you meet my brother, if you don’t mind me asking?”

    “Da’s one of his employees at Shelby Company ltd. I met Tommy when I brought Da his lunch.”

    “How…. quaint.”

Mrs Shelby wasn’t paying attention. She was too bust staring at the purple love bites littering Lilith’s creamy throat. Lilith flushed and giggled when she noticed.

    “I’m sorry, I should have covered up more, Jack can get carried away some times.”

    “He’s very fond of you.”

    “And I, him.” Lilith patted Mrs Shelby’s hand. “I never expected to find Jack. But he’s my better half. As Heaven is Arthur’s and Luca is Scarlet’s. We were worried Thomas would never find someone….worthy.” Lilith stopped her movements and released Mrs Shelby’s arm. For the first time, Mrs Shelby noticed her surroundings. Lilith had brought her to the churchyard close to the Arrow House. She turned, only just able to see the outline of it looming in the moonlight. She shivered, looking back to Lilith who was now staring at something in front of her. “Thomas has very specific needs.” Her voice had lost all of its warmth. Mrs Shelby’s mouth ran dry as she read the names on the gravestones in front of her.

Grace Burgess Shelby.

Daughter, Mother, Beloved Wife.

Elizabeth Stark Shelby

Mother, wife, friend. Lost to childbirth.

Something rustled behind them. Lilith turned and smiled adoringly as Jack stepped out of the shadows. Mrs Shelby wondered how he had known where to find them. “You have to be a certain kind of person to survive in this family. Don’t you, my love?”

    “Ya got that right. It’s an honour to love a Shelby…to be prepared to kill and die for them.”

“Thomas needs a fighter.” Lilith reached out and caressed Mrs Shelby’s cheek. “You didn’t fight tonight. You fled, little mouse.” Lilith tutted and stepped closer, so close, Mrs Shelby could feel Lilith’s sweet, warm breath burning against her flesh. “How can I trust that you’ll fulfil him?” Lilith shook her head, looking sad, disappointed even. Jack brushed his wife’s hair off her shoulder, exposing her flesh. He pressed a kiss into the crook of her neck. Mrs Shelby watched Lilith relax a little. “You’re not good enough for him.” Lilith purred softly, Jack’s lips and tongue trailed down Lilith’s neck as she spoke. “Neither of them were, either.” She glanced to the gravestones behind her. “I was lucky with Lizzie; God took care of her. But I had to intervene with Grace.”

  “B-but we’re happy.” Mrs Shelby spluttered, fear creeping into her voice every second longer that she spent in Lilith’s presence.

   “For now. Until he realises that you’re not enough for him.” She paused, relishing in the look of despair on Mrs Shelby’s features. “Don’t worry. He’ll be happier than ever with Eva. They’ll be perfect together.” Jack hummed in agreement with his beloved and imprinted his teeth in a perfect love bite into her neck as she slid home a beautiful carved and somewhat bejewelled blade into Mrs Shelby’s sternum. Mrs Shelby gasped in pain, a sharp sound leaving her soft lips. “She’s earned him, you haven’t.” Lilith continued as she twisted the hilt, a horrible tearing noise was heard before Lilith let go. Mrs Shelby staggered back and fell back against the willow tree overhanging the makeshift graveyard.  Lilith looked down at her blood spattered fingers. Lifting them to her face she licked one, smearing her lips in the substance. Greedily, Jack took her fingers and painted his own mouth with them. Lilith spun in Jack’s arms, giggling and moaning as their lips fused, unbuckling his belt. She murmured something to him and he acquiesced without question, sitting and leaning back against Grace’s headstone. Lilith slipped her dress over her head until she was wearing barely anything in the coldness of the autumn night. She straddled Jack, kissing him deeply before sliding down onto him in the ghostly glow of the full moon.

Mrs Shelby heaved, opening her mouth. She tried to call for help but no sound emerged. Instead she found herself mute, only coughing and spluttering on the crimson blood as it tried to liberate itself from her mouth. Her vision grew blurry for a moment as tears gathered and obscured her sight.

And then she saw them.

The ghosts of Grace Burgess and Lizzie Stark, both completely drenched in blood and staring in horror, not at her but at Lilith and Jack, as he flipped his wife over and took her like an animal. Lizzie’s expression was melancholic. Her hair loose and wild, eyes ceaselessly spilling tears and her mouth agape in silent cries of agony. Her body had been slit open from chest to lower abdomen and still, even in death, she was bleeding. Grace stood beside her still in the gown she wore the night she was murdered. the bullet wound on her chest still wept even though she didn’t. Her face was curiously, disturbingly calm. The sapphire around her neck pulsed and throbbed and pulsed and throbbed. And suddenly Grace wasn’t looking at Lilith and Jack anymore, her pale grey eyes locking onto her second replacement. Mrs Shelby found herself growing shivery and yet unable to move, unable to scramble backwards as the sapphire whispered to her over and over some kind of spell in Romani. The curse…. she recalled hazily as she forced her limbs in an attempt to move. Tommy believed it had been cursed by the Russians. Mrs Shelby’s fingers dug into the soil as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Every movement was excruciating in both pain and in effort. Her eyes fluttered closed in exhaustion and the spell of the sapphire seemed to sing louder and louder, it’s feminine voice echoing seductively in her ears. She realised it was coming not only from the necklace Grace’s ghost wore, but also from the ring on her engagement finger. Struggling, she tried desperately to remove it. But to no avail, it was as though it had fused to her flesh, strangling her finger.

Mrs Shelby’s eyes snapped open. Just in time to see the ghost of Grace stood over her.

“I should feel sorry for you.” Grace whispered. “You’re a victim of this family, just like me.” She paused, licking her discoloured corpse lips. Grace heard it too. She heard that it was Lilith’s voice cursing her inside the blue sapphires, not Tatiana’s. “And Tommy does love you.” There was a moment of silence. “But… I’ve come to realise something.” Grace leaned down and kissed Mrs Shelby’s lips, her ghostly fingers coming up to wrap around Mrs Shelby’s throat. “If I can’t have Tommy…” Grace murmured as she pulled back looking deeply into Mrs Shelby’s eyes.

Her grip tightened...and tightened…and tightened. Mrs Shelby choked and spluttered, her body convulsing. The last thing she saw was Lilith’s dark eyes staring at her over Jack’s shoulder, her nails digging into his back as he held her to him. And Grace’s hoarse voice looming over her.

“Then no one can.”  

[fablesfolklore]

First Blood

This work is inspired by the spooky season. The OC of Lilith Rose Shelby is my own. The character of Scarlet Shelby belongs to @zablife. I hope you're not offended that I included her. She inspired me with her Shelby energy and in addition you inspired me to write something of my own an post it. So @zablife this is for you, Lee. Hope you like it.

TW: Violence. Domestic Abuse. Lilith is a child for most of this story.

It was true of The Shelby clan that they produced more demons than angels. At least, that was the myth gossiped by the priest and the locals down watery lane. At the age of six Lilith hadn’t really understood why that might have been a bad thing, she just marvelled how that seemed to link them closer to God than most other families. Besides there was only one real demon in that family. Lilith was four when she’d learned not to trust her father. Five when she learned to fear him. And it was only a matter of time before she learned to despise him. Arthur Shelby Sr. was a dreadful human being, a despicable father, and an utter bastard. She’d learned she’d receive no love from him only on her last birthday when he’d announced she’d disappointed him by not being a boy.  Naturally, she impaled a fork into his hand and when he’d raised his fist to beat her, Polly had held a knife to his throat. The look on the old weasel’s face had been the best birthday gift her aunt could have got her. Of all the children he had spawned, Arthur seemed to hate his youngest daughter the most. Lilith had been trained by Polly and her mother, as all the other Shelby siblings had been, to avoid their father when he was at home. She’d never known why her mother loved him so much.

Lilith adored her mother. Anna Shelby was the beauty of small health. She was a gypsy princess of Irish and Russian descent. She was a songbird with a sensitive heart…and the gift. Some whispered she’d been granted it by the devil, who had taken her for his mistress, in recent years. Polly had scoffed when she’d heard Ada repeat what she’d heard….and yet, Polly wouldn’t meet Lilith’s curious gaze. Anna had met and settled down with Arthur Shelby Sr. when her family had settled close to Birmingham. From what Lilith had gathered, her parents' romance had been idyllic, a fairy tale. And so here she was, two years later at the age of eight, sitting in the kitchen listening to her father shout at her mother and she found herself wandering where it had all gone wrong for the two of them. Polly had gone to the shop and she’d taken Finn. Everyone else had been out of the house when Arthur Sr. had returned to the house from wherever the fuck he'd been. Lilith was the first one back from school, she’d snook in when she’d heard her father swearing and slurring his words in the sitting room. She stared at his jacket in front of her, draped over another chair. Her nose wrinkled as the stench of alcohol assaulted her. Lilith frowned, gritting her teeth when she heard her mother, normally calm and softly spoken, raise her voice. The door was closed, so she couldn’t hear her clearly. Not that it mattered. Arthur’s voice rose above her in volume seconds later and then she heard Anna begin to cry. The sound pulled on Lilith’s heartstrings and tugged at her tear ducts. She slid off the chair and approached the sitting room.

If daddy wants to shout at someone, he can shout at me.

But as she grasped the handle and turned it slightly, she hesitated. He didn’t know she was there, neither of them did. She could sneak out and fetch Tommy. Her eyes lit up at the prospect of her favorite big brother breaking her father’s wrist…or face. Either would be fine. Yes, that would do, he could pick on someone his own size. Someone who wasn’t frightened of him. Lilith turned and ran to fetch Tommy. She got as far as the back door when she heard it. The sound of her mother falling. She froze, shivering all over. Lilith wasn’t sure what she’d heard until she returned to the sitting room door, her feet having taken her there involuntarily. She stood at the crack in the door, peeping through at her mother. Anna was on the floor, clutching her head from where she’d bashed it on the chair leg. Arthur stood over her, laughing silently at her with his cruel mean eyes.

    “Arthur, please. Please, Arthur. I’m sorry I shouted, I won’t do it again. Please, Arthur. No. No. Stop, No! Please!”

     Anna’s quiet pleading, her soft, heartbroken begging dissolved into sobs and cries of pain as Arthur descended upon her with his fists. Anna did her best to fend him off, but he was so much stronger than her. Lilith watched mouth agape in horror and eyes streaming with tears as her mother submitted herself to the torture and curled up as best as she could to protect herself.

How long had this been happening? All of her life?

Lilith had never questioned it when her father had tried to hurt her. As far as she was aware it was customary for all fathers to beat their children when they’d disobeyed or angered them. She’d never thought for a second that he’d hurt her mother though. Not when Anna doted on him. The only person in the world capable of loving him…and he treated her like that.

Anna released a loud wail as Arthur pulled her hair back and smacked her hard on the mouth. Lilith, unable to stand her mother’s sobs any longer nor the sound of Arthur’s flesh impacting violently against Anna’s delicate figure, sprinted to the kitchen, desperate to do something, anything to help her mother. Climbing up on Tommy’s chair, she pulled open one of the draws and picked it up. The kitchen knife was heavy in her hand, weighing her delicate little arm down. But she held it firm, hopping back down off the counter and landing silently…not that her father would have heard her over his own shouts. Lilith watched him, hulking over her mother like some kind of monstrous animal, drunk and cruel as ever he could be.

“Mad bitch.” He called Anna. She didn’t deserve that.

Mummy, how can you love him?

Something cold and angry in Lilith snapped and hissed angrily inside her. It was vicious and crimson and she swallowed the venom it offered her with determination. Lilith didn’t love him. That was something she was certain of as she stepped into the sitting room, approaching him from behind, quiet as she could be so he didn’t hear her. The blade glinted in the sunlight as she sprang at him from behind. Arthur Sr. Yelped out in agony as the sharp blade sank into his thigh. It heightened to a scream as Lilith ripped it out and plunged it back into his knee. She delighted in the noise he made, pleased that he was the one making it instead of Anna. The last thing Lilith registered before the bloodlust descended and the noise fell away was the sound of metal slicing through bone.

“GET!” His knee buckled as she pulled the blade out once again. Lilith continued her assault mercilessly as she tore at him with the knife. “OFF!” His calf, his thigh again, his other leg, his foot, his forearm, his shoulder. “MY!” Nothing else mattered except the look of utter horror on his ugly twisted features. “MUMMY!” He tried to grab at her once but she was fast and small, easily blocking his arms. “YOU!” The sharp end of the knife went through his palm and his breath hitched, eyes widening when she yanked it back out. “MONSTER!” She hoped it was as painful as it looked.  She was so numb, so far gone that she didn’t hear the door open. She didn’t see them all rushing in. She didn’t see Polly gasp, her hands cupping her mouth, eyes wide. the shopping in her hands crashing loudly to the floor. She didn’t see Finn, flinching back behind Polly’s skirts eyes scrunched closed. She didn’t hear John swear or Scarlet drop her nursing books. She didn’t feel the vibration of them clunking to the floor. She didn’t see Ada rush to her mother and wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. She didn’t hear Arthur yelling for her to stop. She didn’t see Tommy look between the three of them, putting two and two together. What a sight she must have been for them. An eight-year-old girl splattered from head to toe in her father’s blood.

In the end, it was Anna’s voice that cut through the bloodlust.

   “Lily! Lily, darling stop! Please! Stop! You’ll kill him.” Anna cried, pushing herself up off the floor.

    “WHAT DOES IT MATTER?” Lilith embedded the knife into his other knee with a sickening crunch. “HE HURT YOU!” Arthur Sr. squealed like a pig. Ripping it out once more she raised her blade again when a strong hand gripped her wrist until her grip loosened and the blade fell, clattering to the floor. She was lifted with ease away from her father and spun until she was face to face with Tommy as he shielded her view of him. She’d been so lost in the moment that she hadn’t heard them come in. All of them. Polly picked the knife up off the floor and wiped it with her skirt. Lilith looked Tommy in the eyes. Those big ocean-blue eyes were wide with utter terror as he checked her over.

   “Are you hurt, Lily petal?” He asked urgently. The numbness melted away. The damn broke and emotion flooded in.

   “I’m not sorry Tommy! I’m not sorry!” She wailed. “He was hitting mummy! He deserved it!” Her voice cracked and her breath stuttered as she burrowed her head into his neck. Tommy embraced her without a second thought, rocking her back and forth in as calming a manner as he could think.

Lilith’s accusations rang out into the shell-shocked room. Polly was the first to take action.

    “Get up!” She snapped at her brother. His angry little eyes glowered back at her in spite of the pain rocketing through him. Polly sighed, irritated. “Scarlet, Arthur, help your father onto the settee. Ada grab a sheet to cover it with. Scarlet, I want you to help me sew him up. John, go and bribe Doctor Clarkson to come and help. Anna,” She paused, looking at her good sister. She softened instantly seeing the bruises already forming on her melancholic face. “Are you badly hurt?” Anna parted her lips, ready to speak when Lilith wriggled and vaulted out of Tommy’s hold, running to her mother.

     “I’m sorry, mummy! I’m sorry! Please don’t be angry with me.” Lilith wailed. Anna’s eyes welled with tears. She pulled her youngest daughter into her arms and embraced her tightly.

    “I’m not angry.” Her voice wobbled. “I’ll never be angry with you. Only sad. You protected me. You shouldn’t have had to do that, petal.” Ada returned, covering the settee with a spare old bedsheet.  Arthur Sr. wheezed as Arthur and a rather reluctant Scarlet helped him up (with minimal care on her part) and to the settee. He opened his mouth and Scarlet punched one of his injuries hard. It bloomed red and he hissed in pain.

      “You say a word and I’ll make sure you’re hurting more than you are already!” She snapped.

      “Don’t be harsh, Scar, he’s our dad. Where’s that bedside manner you were telling us about?” Arthur Jr. asked, trying to ease the tension.

       “He doesn’t fucking deserve it, Arthur.” She shot him a sharp look. Before looking at Tommy. “You’ll have to help Arthur take Dad’s trousers off.” Her older brother scowled at the prospect but stalked over nonetheless. The door flung open once again as John returned, very much out of breath. He nearly doubled over with exhaustion. Behind him waddled in, Doctor Clarkson, flushed and barely upright himself. The old doctor had just righted himself when his eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he looked at his patient.

    “Can you fix ‘im?” Polly asked, eyes sharp on the old man. Doctor Clarkson’s resemblance to a deer in headlights heightened as his eyes darted around the room. The empathy seeped back into them when he caught sight of Anna and Lilith, bruised and bloody. He straightened and stepped forward.

    “Let me look at him.”

    “It would be preferable if he didn’t have to go to a hospital.” Tommy spoke calmly. “People will talk.” Doctor Clarkson approached Arthur Sr. and carefully examined his injuries. The look of concern on his elderly face deepened. 

     “You’re lucky. They’re not too deep, for the most part, easy enough to handle.” The doctor removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.

      “Scarlet and I can help.” Polly suggested. The doctor nodded.

      “That would be sufficient.” He opened his physician’s bag, pulling out what he needed. “What worries me are these.” He pointed at Arthur’s knees, hand and ankle. “The knife has penetrated bone.” He paused, lowering his voice for only Polly to hear. “I take it the child was defending her mother?” Polly nodded. “She did a thorough job.” He smiled at her. “He’ll need a hospital.”

       “No!” Tommy’s deep voice cut through the conversation. “He’s got a big mouth, he’ll talk.”

       “And what will he say, Mr. Shelby? That his eight-year-old daughter did this to him?”

       “He has a point.” John spoke up. “No one would believe him.”

       “Not only does it sound far-fetched.” Ada sat down and locked eyes with her father. She maintained the stare. “Think of the humiliation.”

       “He doesn’t have to say it was Lily. He could say it was any of us.”

       “No Tom!” Arthur looked pleadingly at his brother, “It’s dad, he wouldn’t rat on any of us.” Tommy shook his head at Arthur’s naivety. He was still just a young boy at heart, wanting to please his father.

       “Arthur, why don’t you help Ada make some tea?” Polly suggested. Arthur opened his mouth ready to argue when Ada took his hand.

       “Come on.” She pulled him through to the kitchen. When Tommy was sure he was out of ear shot, he stood over his father, looking down on him with disdain.

        “He can go to a hospital.” He spoke to Doctor Clarkson. “But it can’t be in small heath.”

        “I can send him to a colleague of mine in London.”

         “I have one condition.”

         “Name it.”

         “It’s not for you, it’s for him. And before I let him out of this house, he’ll have to agree to it.”

         “What is it, boy?” His father spat.

         “You’ll be gone in the morning. You’ll leave small heath, and you’ll never ever come back.”

         “Tommy-” Anna’s voice was sad.

         “No, mum.” Tommy stood firm, “He’s made us miserable for long enough. If he knows what’s good for him he’ll leave.”

          “He can be someone else’s problem.” Polly said. Arthur Sr. looked disgruntled as he thought it through. Lilith didn’t know what possessed her to look at him, or to approach, but she suddenly found herself stood in front of him.

         “You hate us all, daddy. So just say yes.” Her dark onyx eyes stared into him and he shifted uncomfortably, and yet unable to look away. He nodded to Tommy.

         “I’ll do it. I’ll leave. I swear, I won’t come back.” At his words, Anna began to softly cry again, looking at the floor in shame. Lilith maintained eye contact with her father. A battle of wills being fought between them. No way in hell would she be bullied by him. She smirked, recalling how he squealed when she’d butchered him.

          “I’m not sorry.” She whispered. “Don’t ever come back.”

*****

He was gone. It was done. Lilith had watched from the top of the stairs as they’d taken him to the canal boat Uncle Charlie had prepared. He’d not asked questions when Tommy had spoken quietly with him. He’d simply looked at Anna and agreed to whatever Tommy had told him. Anna had been inconsolable for the better part of the evening. Arthur Sr. never once looked at his wife as he was carted off to the canal boat that would take him to the infirmary in London. Even as she called his name tenderly.

      “Have you nothing to say?!” Polly snapped at him, arm wrapped around Anna’s shoulders. The horrible excuse for a husband merely gritted his teeth and stared hard ahead. Ignoring Anna like it was all her fault. Ada had stripped Lilith bare and bathed her, tenderly cleansing the blood on her hands and face. John took her dress and the bed sheet and built a fire in the backyard for them.

     “I’m not sorry.” Lilith kept saying quietly as she rocked back and forth in the warm water. “I’m not sorry.” She looked up at Polly when she came and joined them, alone. “Where’s mummy?”

      “She’s gone to bed, darling.”

      “I’ve made her sad, haven’t I?” Tears welled in Lilith’s eyes. “I don’t want mummy to go away again. Not like she did before. I want her to be happy. I want her to stay.” Polly hushed her, kissing her forehead soothingly as she took the soap and began to wash Lilith’s thick dark hair.

      “Nonsense. You could never make your mother sad.” She stopped and leaned into whisper. “You and Tommy are her favourites.” She winked and Lilith managed a wobbly smile. “Loving my idiot brother made her sad.”

       “Why does she love him?” Lilith asked curiously. Her forehead crinkled as she concentrated on the thought. Lilith couldn’t understand what her father had about him that made her mother care about him.”

        “It’s a mystery to us all.” Polly scoffed as she rinsed the suds out of Lilith’s hair, the soft pads of her fingers massaging the little girl’s scalp. Lilith’s eyes fluttered as her body grew relaxed and sleepy. “But,” Polly began again, sounding sadder than before, “Your father wasn’t always like this. Once upon a time he was charming, handsome and good natured.” She sighed. “Life changed him.”

        “I hope life doesn’t change me like that.”

        “It won’t. I’ll make sure it doesn’t.”

*****

Cobalt eyes watch her through the crack in the door. Her small hands are clutching Polly’s cards as she places them on the table, humming happily as she does so.

     “Come on in Tommy and close the door.” She calls behind her. “It’s cold.” Tommy enters without hesitation, her innocent voice like a spell over him. There was something uncanny about how she seemed to know when Thomas was close to her. Like they were linked by an invisible string. Light and Dark. Two sides of the same coin.

     “What are you doing with those ey?” He asked, as he pulled out the chair beside her and sat, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

     “Polly said I could read if he would ever come back,”  Lilith spoke matter of factly. Tommy went cold.

Yes, Polly. Good idea to let my eight-year-old sister delve into gypsy magic without supervision.

     “He won’t, Lily. Daddy’s gone, alright. I promise, he’s not coming back.” The firmness in her voice caught her off guard and she looked up at him. Onyx met cobalt and his certainty, his confidence was shaken.

     “He will.” She spoke quietly. “But don’t worry, I’ll be older and less helpless. Besides, I’ve taken a precaution.” Something in the way she spoke made him nervous. Worry chiselled away at him. He cleared his throat.

     “What precaution?”

Lilith smiled as she looked at Tommy. She pointed at the tarot deck.

     “There’s you.” She pointed at The Chariot card. “There’s me.” She pointed at The Empress. “And there’s daddy in the middle.” She pointed to the card nestled between the other two. The Emperor. “With his head cut off.”

      Tommy paled and shuddered at the way she spoke it dreamily. Polly’s small pocket knife (which she’d no doubt stolen from her aunt) was still lodged in the wood of the table where she had sliced the top half of The Emperor’s card. He knelt down beside Lilith at the table, taking her small hands in his, making her look at him.

      “I know he frightened you and hurt mummy. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. But I promise you, he’ll never be allowed to hurt any of us ever again.”

      “I know.” She smiled.

*****

Anna threw herself into the canal a week later. Lilith had been inconsolable as she'd watched Uncle Charlie pull her mother's corpse from the water, cursing her father for his part in Anna’s misery. She hid herself away, refusing to talk about her mother and festering in her rage. Tommy should have known then what she’d be capable of. Instead, he’d had to wait fifteen years to hear about it. He’d dressed it up all nice for Arthur. Invented an imaginary woman, two scoundrels, and a gun. He’d had Mary the maid forge the letter and told the rest of his siblings that their father had died on the other side of the world. The truth was too terrible. No one needed to know that Alfie had witnessed her standing over their father like an angel of vengeance whilst he begged for mercy and told her she looked like her mother. No one needed to know that he’d been found down a dark alley in Camden, head viciously severed from his body.

       And there’s Daddy, with his head cut off.

Tommy drained the whiskey from his tumbler and shuddered. Yes, it was true. The Shelby clan did indeed produce more demons than angels. And Lilith Rose Shelby, though Thomas loved her with all of his heart, was the most dangerous kind of demon…. she was an angel who didn’t know she’d fallen yet.