Chapter 1
First Trimester
Lilith rolled out of bed and started running as soon as her feet hit the floor. In one fluid move, she sank to her knees and hung her head over the toilet, releasing her stomach’s contents into its porcelain belly. Bringing one arm up to rest her forehead against it, she closed her eyes so she didn’t have to stare down into the bowl full of vomit and waited for the heaving to stop. She groaned softly as an ice cold cloth was laid across her neck and a hand gathered her hair back away from her face. Leaning back, she flushed the toilet and looked over her shoulder at the High Priestess of the Church of Lilith.
“Maybe I should start sleeping in my own room?” Standing gingerly, her hand on her small bump, Lilith rinsed out her mouth and spat in the sink. Looking at Zelda Spellman’s reflection in the mirror in front of her, she worried the daily routine of morning sickness was becoming a burden.
Smiling softly, the redheaded witch reached past Lilith, grabbed her toothbrush, put toothpaste on it and held it out to the Queen of Hell; “Brush your teeth and then kiss me, you fool.”
With a grin, Lilith used her teeth to grab the toothbrush then leaned against the counter as she brushed her teeth. Her eyes travelled wantonly over her lover’s curves within the Japanese silk robe. As she reached forward to grab Zelda’s hip, the Devil’s spawn decided to run a marathon within her uterus and her stomach lurched. Dropping her toothbrush into the sink, Lilith dropped to the ground and lost the rest of last night’s dinner into the bowl. In between gags, she whined; “Is the first trimester always like this? It’s been ten weeks! When will this en-uuuggghhh….”
Zelda reached forward and grabbed Lilith’s hair just as she bent back over the toilet. Reaching around with the cool cloth, she wiped Madame Satan’s mouth and kissed the top of her head; “I think we’re safe - your stomach is certainly empty now, Lily. Come downstairs once you’ve cleaned yourself up, I’ll go make you some peppermint tea and toast.”
Preferring to sleep in the nude, Lilith slipped into a black nightgown, it’s short hemline accentuating her bump, and finished brushing her teeth before following Zelda down into the kitchen and sinking into a chair. She watched Zelda move gracefully around the kitchen, pulling toast from the toaster and buttering it swiftly then placing it in front of Lilith; pouring water from the kettle into the bone china teapot and setting it on the table along with two cups and some honey. Making herself some toast, she settled into the chair beside Lilith and reached over to pour the tea into her cup.
“You spoil me, Zelda, really.” Lilith both loved and hated how the Spellman’s matriarch fussed over her, she wasn’t used to it but it seemed to bring Zelda joy so Lilith accepted graciously. Pouring some of that honey on her buttered toast, she hesitated before putting it in her belly, silently asking the beast inside of her if he planned on leaving it there or not. She waited a few seconds, deemed it safe, and took a bite.
“I don’t spoil you Lilith and don’t sleep in your room on my account. I’m just fine. You need a midwife and luckily, you live with one. That reminds me, we need to do an ultrasound...”
The Queen of Hell’s face darkened and she stirred honey into her peppermint tea distractedly, “You know I don’t want to see that thing, Zelda. I know it’s fine, I don’t need confirmation.”
Zelda reached forward and placed a hand on Lilith’s, “Darling, I’m the expert here. I need to see the baby, even if you just close your eyes during the examination.”
Clearing her dishes into the sink, Lilith pulled Zelda to her feet and into her arms. “I’ve waited my entire life to deserve you. If seeing this little monster will make you happy, we will do it this afternoon. I have something I need to attend to first.” The Queen of Hell wiped the smile off of Zelda’s face with a deep kiss then left her in the kitchen as she went to get dressed.
The chilly Autumn air caressed Lilith’s cheek, sweeping beneath her dark hair and whispering to her as she walked into the Greendale Woods; Samhain was just around the corner and the Mother of Demons needed to prepare. Even though the fetus was only ten weeks, Lilith had a feeling it was growing at an exponential rate and that was why her morning sickness was so persistent and severe. Leave it to the Devil’s spawn to force its way into the World on the most powerful night of the year, like an unholy Antichrist.
In the clearing, Lilith removed her leather jacket and stood in a black velvet gown, her bump proudly on display. In her right hand was a dagger and in her left, a raven was squawking and flapping his wings madly. The raven signified immortality and departed souls, it was her representation of Lucifer and would be a spirit messenger. Lifting her hands up to the sky, Lilith chanted in ancient Hebrew, her voice deepening to become one with the wind. As she closed her eyes, her voice rose to a frenzied pitch, the words swirling and dancing in the air, creating a whirlwind that surrounded her.
When the Queen of Hell opened her eyes again they were as black as the raven’s. Bringing her hands together above her head, she slit the raven’s throat in one violent motion, warm blood raining down on her. Dropping the raven’s limp body at her feet, she then dragged the dagger across her wrist, letting her own blood fall down onto the carcass. Then she slowly knelt over the bird, her blood mixing with his, becoming one with the fowl. Suddenly, the chest of the raven billowed full of air and it took flight, she followed it, raising her face to the sky. Her blacked out eyes began to see what the raven saw and she uttered a command in Mishnaic Hebrew - sending the bird to the Nine Circles of Hell.
Lucifer recognized her right away, “Lilith.” He hissed from his position, chained to the ground.
After Lilith and Zelda had buried him alive in Damascus steel coffins to be tormented relentlessly by Batibat, The Dark Lord had been placed in Limbo, the first Circle of Hell, to await her orders. She had been happy to keep him there, starving and thirsty, wasting away in a mortal skin-suit, neglected and ignored with no one to feed his ego, not even a minion to give him attention. Only the demon Batibat visited on occasion, stirring up his nightmares and thrilling in watching him live through them. But now it was time to move him along, keeping him busy and ensuring he had no opportunity to recruit any spies that may still be loyal to him.
Floating above him in raven form, she soared downwards and used her sharp beak to peck at his face, leaving a vicious gash bleeding on his cheek. The raven opened its beak and her voice surfaced from his throat, “Lucifer. I trust Limbo has treated you well. You’re looking nice and…..thin.” The raven cawed and it sounded like a laugh. “Just to keep things interesting, you will not be moving through the circles in order. You sent me through to all of them in hopes that it would subdue and break me - had it not been for Zelda travelling through time to encourage me to continue, you might have succeeded in killing me. But that was never your intention, was it? You simply wanted to remind me that you were my Master. Killing me would have meant you would have to do your own dirty work. Well. How the tables have turned.”
The raven sank to Lucifer’s naked shoulder, sinking its claws deep into his shoulder, drawing blood, as its beak moved closer to his ear, “I am your Master now. Your sole purpose will be to suffer for eternity for what you have done to me. I will take great pleasure in commanding Batibat to exact my revenge ever so slowly, over many millennia, while I raise your son to be nothing like you.”
Lucifer snarled and snapped his teeth at the raven, his eyes glowing red; “My daughter will rise up against you, Lilith. She is the rightful heir to the throne of Hell!”
The raven took flight, cawing again in amusement; “Sabrina works for me, Lucifer. She is in Hell as we speak, doing a fine job under my tutelage. She as well is learning how to be nothing like you. Now - enough blithering….the Wrathful are waiting.” And with that, Lucifer was spirited away to the Fifth Circle of Hell, Wrath.
Lilith blinked the beautiful blue back into her eyes, reaching down to cradle the raven in the palm of her hands, she pursed her lips around its beak and breathed into its lungs. His beady black eyes opened and she smiled slightly, “Thank you for your service, off you go.” Opening her hands, she watched him fly high into the sky and disappear. Slowly getting to her feet, Lilith’s brow furrowed - she was worried about what the ultrasound would discover.
Sliding into her leather jacket, Lilith placed the dagger in the deep pocket on her hip and turned back towards the Mortuary. The ritual had taken most of the morning and it was nearing lunchtime; expending that much energy made her famished and she hoped her girl was making her favourite. Gliding through the woods and into the Spellman’s cemetery, Lilith paused at the tombstone that read Queen of Hell’s slave which was next to High Priestess’ whore, where Faustus Blackwood was buried and suffering a similar fate. Looking down at the hardened mound of dirt covering the grave, Lilith sneered and spat on the ground, the spit sizzling in the dirt as she walked away towards the house.
Zelda took one look at Lilith’s pallid face, covered with raven blood, and hurried over to her, “What have you been up to, Lily?! Are you hurt?”
“No love. I just need to clean up and eat.” Lilith pressed a tender kiss to Zelda’s lips, removed her jacket, and slipped into the powder room.
Washing the raven blood off of her face, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and shuddered. Seeing Lucifer had left her visibly shaken; it had been over two months since the coven had joined them in the ritual burial of Blackwood and the Dark Lord. It had been a ploy to ensure Lucifer wouldn’t kill Lilith for betraying him and revenge for Zelda for what Blackwood had put her through. Unlike Zelda, Lilith continued to have conflicting emotions; she absolutely wanted Lucifer in the ground but she also felt guilty for putting him there. Many millennia of brainwashing at his hands had made that decision far more difficult than it should have been. With his seed growing inside her, her hormones caused even more turmoil.
Lilith was welcomed into the kitchen with a steaming bowl of stew and a saucy smile on her redheaded witch; “I made your favourite. Man-flesh stew. Don’t mind the tang, I tried to get a fresh body but didn’t think it was wise to actually kill someone just for lunch so I used one of the more recent cadavers from the basement. It’s left a bit of an….after taste.”
The Dawn of Doom dug into the stew with vigor, the lingering iron flavour of somewhat rotten flesh, not even phasing her. The creature within her womb vibrated as it fed off of the human she consumed; looking up, she licked her lips and winked at Zelda. “It’s perfect, thank you.”
Lunch finished, the witches made their way to the basement for the ultrasound. Lilith was a bundle of nerves as she slid onto the examination table and pulled her dress up to reveal her bump. The High Priestess turned on the ultrasound machine and lazily slid her hand up Lilith’s leg with a saucy grin, teasing the dark haired witch wickedly. With a chuckle, the redhead removed her hand and squirted the lubricant onto Lilith’s belly, moving the wand around to find the fetus.
Lilith leaned her head back on the table and looked at the ceiling with a worried frown. The wand continued to sweep across her belly and Zelda made a soft sound, “I can’t seem to find the bab….OH!” She gasped loudly, “Satan in Hell, Lilith, LOOK!”
The Queen of Hell’s head whipped sideways to look at the screen but she didn’t understand what she was looking at. She could see the fetus floating around but…”What is it, Zelda?!”
“This fetus is not 10 weeks along, this is the size of a baby well into the second trimester!” Zelda brought a hand to her mouth in shock, leaning in for a closer look. “I would say this fetus is more like twenty weeks along. And…”
Lilith reached out and grabbed Zelda’s chin, forcing the witch to look at her. “AND WHAT?”
Zelda Spellman fell into Lilith’s blazing blue eyes and swallowed loudly, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly before answering her lover. “Lilith, my love….you’re having a girl.”