The apartment greeted her coldly as she walked in. The bare, white walls stared her down as she strode through the empty hallway towards her bedroom. Like the rest of the flat, her bedroom was naked, save for a single bed with crisp white sheets, an Ikea study desk, and an ancient rotating office chair that always seemed to be two seconds away from collapsing.

The lack of sentimental items or books or a proper closet would've been unbearable for anyone else. Lilith, though, didn't mind. She preferred it that way, even.

It was seven in the morning. She had no clocks, but she did own a phone. Her next target was at three, which gave her more than enough time to clean. She loved cleaning everything and anything. Herself? Her room? Her apartment? She'd clean it all. It soothed her, in a way, much like the cigarettes did. A type of therapy that criminals couldn't find elsewhere.

Criminal. The word stuck in her mind like a piece of food stuck in the back of the mouth. It wasn't a dirty word, but it was an uncomfortable one - to her, at least. Lilith mulled over it as she shrugged off her jacket and shoes. Criminal - there was no doubt she was one, but she didn't like the label.

She made her way to the bathroom, slowly and unhurriedly. The icy water snapped her awake as she splashed it on her face. Criminal. That implied that she was bad. Immoral. Unlawful. Lilith agreed with the third point, but not the first two. Bad? Immoral? That was subjective.

The bloodstains from her palms slowly peeled away from her calloused skin under the command of soap and cold water. She watched the water turn a dull shade of scarlet as it swirled down the drain.

Bad? Immoral?

Maybe. Maybe not. She leaned more favourably towards the latter option.

Her stomach growled. After a hit she was always hungry. But Lilith didn't move to the kitchen to make her breakfast, not yet. Instead, she looked in the mirror before her, then smiled, relieved.

She still recognized the person staring back at her.

Once, she'd forgotten.

The memory was snapped off with the bathroom tap as Lilith straightened her shoulders, flicked a piece of stray mousy-brown hair away from her face, and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.