iv. Running illegal gigs

       The year is 1923 and we're in Paris.

Lilith's married a vampire named Henry and they own a club together. The best one in the city. The kind of place you went to for champagne brought from the Grande Marques and all the clandestine acts you could get away with.

The place isn't as busy as usual, most of the people are dancing. The lights are dim and there's live music playing. A lively jazz band. Flutes of champagne are being passed around; everyone's looking for a taste of the fizzy drink.

Lilith is away from the crowd, feeling a bit more reserved tonight. She stands in one of the corners of the club, nurturing a glass of champagne and on the other hand she carries an unlit cigarette.

There's nothing exciting about the club anymore. It's been the same for the past two years; except for that one time it was threatened to be shut down. But all they needed to do was fill the mortals' pockets.

The guests are all the same, human or not. The music stays the same. The champagne keeps its taste. Paris has nothing new to offer her.

Lately, she's been thinking of going back home, Hell is warm at this time of year.

Then, Henry joins her and pulls her out of her reverie. He offers to light her cigarette for her, she accepts though she considers carrying a lighter around from now on.

Her relationship with Henry is nothing special. Lilith isn't sure why she accepted to marry him or why he wanted to get married in the first place. They have eternity ahead, there's no need to settle down anytime soon. But she believes one of the reasons she said yes was because it was something new to her. Lilith had never pictured herself married and with a husband, so she wanted to see what it was like.

There's no love, neither is capable of it. There's no loyalty either, sometimes their nights are spent with someone else. But it's a relationship that works for them—till one grows sick of it.

Lilith ripples from one relationship to the next—never sure of what she's looking for, though it's always someone new.

Tonight Henry seems particularly in a good mood, Lilith can't be bothered to feel the same.

He's handsome, she supposes, except when he's happy. She prefers the bored look on his face, it reminds her of herself.

Henry has dark hair and nice hazel eyes. He's tall and towers over Lilith who's already of decent height. He also lets her pick who they eat and has a lavish apartment overlooking the Eiffel Tower. He's one of the better demons she's been with.

Henry has come here to tell her something that might finally make her like the club again.

"See those two over there?" Henry asks, nodding his head towards the far side of the club. Lilith glances to where he pointed, she sees a couple. "He's the one who killed the Slayer."

"Boxer rebellion?"

"That exact same one," Henry says. "Beautiful work."

Henry, like many vampires, thinks highly of Spike. It's not something one often does, killing a slayer that is.

The first time Lilith heard what this vampire had done she thought it was bullshit. "What's that funny name he goes by?"

"Spike."

Lilith grimaces at the name. "I'll have to greet our hero then."

Henry scoffs. "Heroes don't kill slayers."

Lilith chuckles in voiceless agreement, then she gives Spike another once over. His head is on the crook of his girlfriend's neck, they seem to be exchanging sweet nothings. For a renowned killer, he seems a little soft.

"He doesn't look the part," Lilith says.

Spike hardly seemed scary or powerful, like he was just an overconfident guy and that was what got him what he wanted.

Lilith finds herself intrigued. She wants to pick him apart, figure out how someone like him could've killed a slayer. After all, many deemed it an impossible thing.

She drops her cigarette and puts out the flame with her heel. Then, she approaches their table.

Without any formalities, she slides into their booth, hands clasped in front of her and a forced smile on her lips. "Can I just say how much of an admirer I am?"

       All vampires love flattery, Lilith tries to make hers seem convincing.

       Spike and his girlfriend, Drusilla, look at her, deciding if she's worth their time or not. They only ever divert their attention from each other to eat or kill.

       "The way you killed that slayer is all anyone talks about. I mean, what's next for you now?"

       As mocking as Lilith comes off, she is interested in knowing what's next for the pair, what exactly has brought them to the city of love.

       Dru looks at her, then back at Spike, a smile painting her lips. Her smile is unsettling and alluring at the same time. "Spike promised he will give me Paris."

Spike reaches for Dru's wrist and pulls her towards him. He looks into her eyes and smiles. Dru seems in awe of him. Spike cups her chin and leans in—as if for a kiss. "I said I was going to make Paris ours, baby."

Dru laughs darkly and kisses Spike.

It's the closest thing to love Lilith has seen and she is sickened by it. She averts her eyes, thinking anything a better sight than these two.

Lilith glances back to Dru and Spike when they're done kissing. "When you take over the city, I get to keep my club?" It sounds more like a threat rather than a question.

Spike shrugs, glimpses around the place, and replies, "I don't see why not. Cozy little thing. Great music. Even my girl seems to agree." True to his words, Dru has taken it to swaying in her seat, her eyes shut, looking like the picture of serenity. Spike traces his hand down her arm.

As Lilith fumbles for a new cigarette, she asks, "And what do you need?"

"To begin with, a place to stay."

Lilith shakes her head and breathes a laugh. "You can stay with us. Henry will love the company." She sneaks a glance at him and feels her mouth go sour. "Oh, and he too is allergic to the sun."

By the beginning of next week, her husband was dead.

☀︎

// present time

       Her business had been growing increasingly fast over the last few weeks.

       After ransacking the crypt where the gem of Amara was buried, Lilith embarked on the task of opening an online market. She finds herself in the crypt often these days.

       Lilith jumps down through the hole onto the platform. The sack makes rattling noises with her movement. It's heavy, she's nearly taken out all of the treasure. She stores everything in a warehouse near campus.

       As she's ready to jump down to the ground, someone is waiting for her. Lilith doesn't expect to see Spike but there he is, staring up at her. She masks her surprise. "Bring me anything from L.A.?"

       He doesn't hide his. His brows furrow and he tries to crane his head to look through the hole in the roof. "What are you doing?"

       Lilith jumps from the platform. "Not much these days. You?"

       He meets her eyes, they're nearly the same height. "Oh, you know, the usual. Becoming a lab rat, getting experimented on."

       She shoulders past him. "God, you're strange."

       He eyes the sack over her shoulder. "Have you been stealing?"

       "Oh no. The cops are here," Lilith says, monotonous and sarcastic.

       "Those are mine."

       "I don't see 'Property of Spike' labels anywhere."

       "I dug for the place, I found it; ergo mine."

       "You left it behind to be a lab rat; ergo mine now."

       Spike reaches for her sack. "Give it."

       Lilith tugs it back. "No, you give it."

       They tug it back and forth, each progressively becoming more annoyed with the other. When Lilith won't budge it free, Spike tries a different approach: he throws a punch to her nose. Stunned, Lilith lets go of her sack to clutch her nose.

       "Asshole," she wheezes out.

       He looks through her sack, furrows his brows, and says, "It's all rubbish."

       Lilith is nearly insulted, this rubbish has been giving her good money so far. "My clients beg to differ. Of course, I tell them it's enchanted and market it as treasure once lost."

       "You're a sham."

       "I know."

       "I want in."

       "No?"

       Spike flips out his hands, one still clutching her sack. "Oh, c'mon. It's what I do. I steal and scam people."

       Lilith seizes back her stuff. "It's what I do. Get your own gig."

☀︎

       "Don't you think 2,000 dollars for this is too much?" Willow says, looking at the golden vase. It has intricate designs but it's rusted and chipped at one end, which far from justifies the price.

       Lilith shrugs, she has no concept of monetary value. "If this sells, I'll get my car."

       Over the last three weeks, Lilith has been dragging Willow to the school's computer lab—all to make true on the online market she said she'll set up. Willow, granted against her will, has helped Lilith create an account on eBay. She has also helped her in putting up her stolen goods for sale. So far Lilith has made good money out of this, more than she thought she'd ever make.

       A ding that Lilith has come to recognize as a new message is heard. Willow opens the chat room, they both read the pop-up. Lilith thinks this might be the best message she's received, someone named Mike Mike is looking into buying her whole collection and is willing to negotiate a price.

       Lilith can't contain her excitement, she practically has her new car by now. Willow is more skeptical.

       "His name is Mike Mike—that is never fishy," Willow says sarcastically.

       "My name is Lilith with no last name."

       Willow looks at Lilith as if she's only confirmed her suspicions. Yet for some reason, Willow tends to feel safe around her, which she guesses must have to do with her demon abilities. Willow wonders what it's like being what she is. "Were you always, you know, all grr-y?"

       "You mean a sex demon? Go on, you can say it."

       "Succubus is the correct term, isn't it?"

       Lilith doesn't correct her, Willow is right. "I wasn't. I was once like you, at least at your age I was."

       "Uh, how old are you?"

       Time in hell worked differently, in some parts, it was a lot slower, and in others a lot faster.

       "By your standards, about two hundred and fifty years old."

       Willow's eyes widen, like it's hard to think of Lilith being that old. Lilith nudges her arm and nods toward the computer. "Are you not going to reply to Mike Mike?"

       Lilith says the name like she's making fun of Willow's skepticism.

       Another message ding is heard, Lilith points to the computer screen. Willow has to spin her chair back around. "What'd he say?" Lilith leans closer to Willow, her chin is nearly laying on her shoulder. She can hear her breathing.

       Willow recoils from her. "What are you doing?"

       Lilith ignores her. "He says that if I agree to his offer, he's open to meeting in person for negotiations."

       She reaches her arm over Willow, invading her space even more, and begins typing on the keyboard, spelling her message aloud, "I would love to. Meet me outside of the warehouses at Hilltop Dr., 8105, Sunnydale."

       Lilith memorized the address, knowing it'd be useful to know where she keeps her loot.

       She hits send, Willow squeals. Lilith looks at her and chuckles, finding her nerves adorable. "Calm down. It's not like you have to get anywhere close to the guy. This is all my business."

       "I don't think you should trust it," Willow says as if showing concern for a friend though she's far from that.

       "Why?"

       "It could be...a scam?"

       "Can I be scammed if I'm scamming them first?"

       "Ooh, think of it like mutual scamming."

       Lilith ruffles Willow's hair, she's just so cute. Willow freezes, then tries for a smile—not wanting to upset Lilith.

       Lately, Lilith seems to be the only one Willow spends her time with, ever since Willow has been blowing off her friends as a way to distance herself and wallow in all the overwhelming feelings her breakup has put her through. The only one she can't seem to push away is Lilith because she forces her to be here.

       "You know, I've been through a couple of breakups myself. They get easier with time."

       "But your feelings are different."

       "Because I don't have a soul? How is that fair?"

       It's true her heartbreak did not compare to Willow's, and maybe that was a blessing in itself. Anything Lilith could feel only went as far as wounded pride; her heartbreaks stemmed from selfish reasons. They were only ever about her. Willow wishes it was only ever about her.

       "What did wolf boy even do to you? He seemed good enough."

☀︎

       Lilith learns that Oz cheated on Willow, she advises her to next time ditch monogamy. It makes Willow regret opening up to her, she doesn't know why she did in the first place.

Lilith offers to buy her some ice cream to cure her heartbreak because that's what she's seen girlfriends do for each other in the movies. But Willow gets too depressed and Lilith cringes at the thought of Willow crying on her shoulder, gorging on ice cream (also something she's seen in the movies) that Lilith just lets Willow go. She'll rather have someone else deal with Willow, she doesn't like overly sad or overly happy people.

It's later in the day now. Lilith is walking through campus by herself, she spends a lot of time by herself lately. She tried getting her roommate to come with her but Tara hasn't warmed up to her yet and she seems too shy to actually do so anyway. She heard of a party happening at one of the frat houses, she thinks she might hit it up later, maybe run into Buffy and mess up in front of her.

She thinks becoming the Slayer's ally might be her most foolish plan to date.

She kicks at a candy wrapper on the ground and doesn't notice someone come up behind her.

They grab onto her shoulder and try turning her around but Lilith roughly elbows the person in the ribs. She hears them grunt just as she faces them with her demon face. She rolls her eyes at seeing it's just Spike. She changes her face back into human form. "I told you to stop trying to find me."

"You go here?"

"I did tell you." She smooths her hand along his arm, he looks more annoyed than charmed. "You probably didn't hear me, too busy thinking about me and all."

       Lilith had not told Spike, she just thought she had.

       Spike rolls his eyes. "Still clinging onto that?"

       "What do you want? And I won't be up for it, unless it involves drinking or, you know, finally breaking that tension we got going on."

       "None of that," Spike says. "Looking for our favorite slayer. Mind taking me to her?"

       "Thank you for bringing her up. We're, like, best friends now," Lilith says, smiling at the thought of Buffy. "She trusts me completely."

       Spike smiles, knowing this is how he'll get to Buffy.

☀︎

       Spike plays Lilith into telling him where Buffy's dorm is. He claims that if they're really that close then surely she'll know where she is. If she doesn't know, then that can only mean Buffy doesn't trust her at all.

       Lilith, always wanting to one-up him, points Spike exactly to where Buffy lives with Willow, and risks Willow's life after she decides to go to bed early.

       Buffy doesn't learn of Lilith's disloyalty.

☀︎

       Lilith goes through with the deal she made on eBay, she meets with Mike Mike by herself. They agree on a location, the warehouse where she stores her merchandise.

       She's there first, standing in the parking lot with a cigarette in hand and an arm across her stomach. It's a windy day, her hair keeps flying over her face and she keeps pushing it away.

       Mike Mike comes in a red Corolla and as a Deathwok demon. Green skin, red eyes, and horns on either side of his head. Most importantly, he's an empath demon, meaning he can tell Lilith is a soulless demon straight away.

Neither of them mentions their conditions. Mike Mike keeps introducing himself as Mike Mike though Lilith highly doubts a Deathwok demon could have that name. Lilith introduces herself as Lillian Parker—her fake name on her eBay account. One she stole off the roster from her Biology 100 class.

Lilith guides Mike Mike to her warehouse lot. She lets him take a look around the stuff, and even explains some of the artifacts, at least the ones she knows what they are.

She turns to look at him. His face is distracting, it's been some years since she ran into a Deathwok demon. "Are you still interested in acquiring the entire collection?"

The demon nods, he's got his eyes on the vase Lilith has just put up for sale. "Yeah, I'll give you the money." He takes another look around the lot. "Five thousand, does that sound fair?"

Lilith tries not to smile to avoid coming off as eager, that number has enough zeroes in it to make her rich. She wonders if she can get more out of him. "These are all pretty rare artifacts. I mean, they were locked in a crypt for hundreds of years."

She sees the look of pondering on his face, like he might actually offer her more money. "Do you have the money with you?" she asks.

"Got it all with me."

Lilith wants the money but she also wants to keep her stuff. She wonders how many more Mike Mikes are out there, ones who are willing to give out their money for these useless trinkets. She could lure them all out here and take their money. That sounds like a business she'd be willing to run.

Of course that would entail illegal acts, such as robbery and possible murder. But it's not like she's one for morality anyway.

Although this side business could lead to problems with the Slayer, Buffy is not exactly forgiving of murder and if she wants to be her ally, Lilith would have to play by her rules sometimes. She decides she'll only kill the demons—in a way, she'll even be helping Buffy by ridding the world of monsters; that is her life's work after all.

Lilith reaches for a case behind her, it holds one of her favorite items. It's long and made of wood. "Got one more thing to show you." She lets him come closer, uncovers the case, and reveals the knife inside. "A knife with one of the sharpest blades and just look at those designs."

Lilith brandishes the knife to showcase the designs on the blade reflected by the sole lightbulb in the room. Mike Mike is enthralled by it. Lilith uses his inattentive state to her advantage and wields the knife to stab him right in the heart.

Lilith misses when his reflexes kick in and she ends up slicing the sleeve off his suit jacket.

Mike Mike pushes himself to the wall with his hands up in defense. "Hey, hey," he says, "I will be paying you."

He thinks this is about the money, but Lilith likes to play by rules she makes up as she likes. She'll take the money and everything else.

He bolts for the gate, scrambles to open it.

Lilith gets to him before he can escape and she stabs his heart through his back. The demon disintegrates before her. She puts the knife back in the case.

Lilith finds the money bag in the trunk of his car and drives out in her new red Corolla.

☀︎

this chapter is so stupid. i wanna think it offers something but everything feels vapid and useless. anyways let's hope next chapter is better. at least i get to write "a bear! you made a bear! undo it undo it!"