"Mother," I huffed in annoyance. "What an unpleasant surprise."

"Now, now, Tyrius," she reached and patted my cheek. "Don't give me that attitude."

"I'd say that it's lovely to see you, but I'd be lying," I flinched at her touch and took a step back feeling uncomfortable. "The last time I saw you it was a millennium ago," I said and grew cold again. My shock wore off, and confidence returned.

"Blame your father for that," she replied, and her expression grew cold, too. "His incredible selfishness brought us into this."

"Are you still on about that human he killed?" I asked knowing that it most probably was. Lilith had a grudge on Lucifer for a certain something he did many hundreds of years ago. Before that, their relationship was going on and off, but after father dearest killed Marcus, everything that held them connected, vanished into nothingness. Lilith rejected my brothers and me and stayed committed only to her human children, whom I definitely despised and hated.

"Don't anger me, child," she pronounced casually. "I may be your mother, but it won't stop me from snapping your neck." I greeted my teeth but replied nothing. It was never a good idea to anger Lilith. "Well, enough about that," she smirked. "How are you and your brothers are doing? I couldn't help but notice Oengus has been experimenting a lot lately." She sighed and walked past me into the house. "Lovely girl he picked. I just sincerely doubt that he will get anything out of her into his favor. Besides, she's determined not to give in, she's also incompatible with your species."

I spun around and froze for a moment, fascinated with my mother's knowledge in such matter. I'm being made of human flesh and having a demonic beginning in my core, implying on my superiority, didn't know so much about Stacy. For me, she was a pathetic human, who became a significant nuance that needed to be taken care of. In a deadly sense, of course. What Lilith possibly could know about it? Curiosity sparked in me and unable to stop myself I followed her inside the house.

"I came to existence as early as the first man, didn't I?" She answered my unspoken question. I inhaled deeply regaining my composure, yet again. I forgot indeed my own mother's origins and what she was in the reality.

"What does that suppose to mean?" I cocked my head to one side.

"Nothing really. Her blood has mutated. She's neither human nor demon. She's an error."

"Error?" I mused.

"Error. She was born a mistake and became an outcast because of her origin."

"I don't understand where you are going with this speech?"

"You are stupid, Tyriur," she snapped. Her eyes darkened, filling with rage. "You're playing with fire, child. Don't let your arrogance cloud your judgment. You've already started the game that is way above your power. Do you know what you're playing with?"

"Enough!" I snapped back. The floor underneath me started shaking and everything that made the house's interior sharply floated up in the air.

I couldn't remember the last time when someone enraged me that significantly. The fury radiated out of me and penetrated everything nearby. The only person who didn't feel it was Lilith. Her gaze stayed cold and posture calm, by that calling out of me even bigger frustration. I didn't have mommy issues but reacted poorly when someone challenged my power and doubted my ability. From all of the brothers, I was only who wanted to continue Lucifer's legacy. We've lost many battles, but this one I knew I couldn't lose. And it really felt like we were going to win. One smart move...two smart moves. And the war is won. But until then...

"Where's she?" I asked.

Lilith gave me a strange look, making me slightly worry. I kept my façade stern, not giving her even the slightest hint of my hesitation, but inside of me, something shifted, compressing my chest with barely visible cold sensation. She knew something that I didn't know, and nobody knew except her. Maybe even Lucifer didn't know that secret behind the mystery of Stacy and her miraculous withstanding of my and my brother powers.

The things that were hanging in the air trembling in tension started falling one by one, creating ringing clutter in the house. I felt the presence behind my back, but the aura of the person behind me seemed familiar.

"Mistress," I heard a happy voice of Ira greeting my mother.

"Ira, my child," she smiled at Ira making me cringe inwardly. He was her creation, but I was her real child, and she didn't give me even the tenth of her affection.

"Ira," I snapped and glared at my mother. "Where's Stacy?"

"I've sent her away," she replied casually cocking one eyebrow. "You've made such a mess here, Tyrius. You better clean that up before you leave. I don't want to hear an earful from Joan. She can be so annoying at times. And as for Stacy," she stepped closer placing both of her hands to my cheeks. "It's irrelevant if you catch her or not. She is in neutral zone."

"What does it mean, mother?" I couldn't help asking.

"It means that she doesn't belong either. She is an error. A soul that materialized into flesh, thanks to your brother's actions."

"But her body didn't accept his blood," I protested.

"Her blood couldn't accept your brother's blood."

"Why is that?"

"It mutated becoming something entirely different. Because you can't take something purely white and mix it with purely black. Adam was made of heavenly dust when I was created at the same time from earthy mud. We are twins with Adam," she said smiling a creepy smile. "He took after him, and I gravitated towards your father. Being on the other side of the scale is natural to me. Without Adam and me, there would be no balance in this world. This world would collapse without me...or without him."

"But what about Stacy? What she has to do with you or him?"

"Stacy is something like you just in reverse. In other words, she is or used to be human with a very fine human bloodline."

"What?"

"Be on your way, child. Off you go!" she caressed my hair and vanished into the thin air. I took a deep breath looking around the room, full of broken objects. That was Lilith in her usual mysterious ways. She just loved to appear in the middle of something, create chaos, and then leave without a trace for the next several hundreds of years. I groaned and snapped my fingers.

"Mistress," Ira whimpered still standing behind me.

"Arrrrrrrrrrr," I groaned. "Don't make me send you back home." I gestured for him to get out. "Now, back to work," I brought both of my hands up in the air and visualized the interior of the room the way it was before I destroyed half of the house. The things and broken pieces in a slow motion rose up in the air to the level of my hands, repairing themselves in the process. Once everything was fixed, I lowered my hands letting the items return back to the ground. And, as there was nothing else left here to do, I rotated and made my way to the exit, but not before flipping one of my mother's vases, sending it to the floor. The vase broke into hundreds of small pieces, and satisfied, I walked out of the door, keeping a smirk on my face intact.

2010...

It took about two hours to settle down and make Spencer listen. Mac instantly warmed up to me, though, most of the time he was nosey and annoying, asking me hundreds and hundreds of question about my past and where I came from. Briefly, I retold him my tale, missing half of the content, and in return, he started teaching me how to use the modern technology. I already stopped gasping every time I made a new discovery. My overwhelmed consciousness just decided to shut up and let everything sunk in without extra drama to it.

"So, who was the president?" Mac asked me distracting me from watching the news on TV. I glanced at his approaching figure noticing two red metallic containers in his hands.

"Um..." I mumbled and turned my attention back to TV. The pictures were so vivid, so colorful. I couldn't believe how real the images looked. "John Kennedy," I said absentmindedly.

"Holy shit," Mac whistled. "That must have rocked!"

I shrugged my shoulders giving him a confused look. "He is a good president and a brilliant man."

"Was," he lifted one container and offered me one. "I brought you coke," he outstretched it to me.

"Coke?" I got distracted again and received the metallic container observing it curiously. "Coca-Cola" was written on the side of the container in familiar letters. I giggled happy to find something reminding me of home, and my happy time, and started rotating the container looking for the way to open it.

"Let me show you how to open the can," Mac sat next to me and displayed in details the process of opening the can. "Just don't shake it."

I nodded and repeated step-by-step, lifting the metallic ring and slightly pressing on it. A pop sound followed by a hiss and smiling I brought the can to my lips.

"Cheers," Mac lifted the can in the air and then took a sip of his drink. I followed his example and let the drink spill into my mouth, but as I felt a sweet, flavorful sparkly liquid on my tongue, I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "What kind of coke is that?" I spat when swallowed it down.

Mac shrugged and took another sip. "If you think that the original one is bad, you haven't tried diet coke. That one is really nasty. But don't worry, you'll get used to it. Everyone does."

I gave it another try and clicked my tongue placing the can on the coffee table.

"So, Stacy," Chris emerged into the living room in tow with Spencer and Terry. Terry was the other guy who came along with Spencer. In comparison with Spencer and Chris, Terry was on a calmer side, but if to give him a specific characteristic, I'd say he was indifferent. His eyes showed no excitement or anger as if he accepted his fate and didn't fear the consequences. In a way, it reminded me of myself. I just never accepted what destiny has placed in front of me so pompously. I'd rather die trying to change it. And there something whispered in the back of my head – but you can't...

"Yes," I snapped my head up peering at him.

"I guess, it's time for you to know about us and what we do."

"Us?" I involuntarily shifted my gaze at Spencer and then almost immediately shifted it back to Chris.

"Yes. I assume, you have a question or two boiled up about us. All those guns and stuff..." he trailed off.

"So, it's not normal to have a gun as a regular household device?" I asked giving him a skeptical look.

"Of course, not," he snorted. "But let's stop beating around the bush and get straight to business, shell we?" He walked towards the sofa and sat on the coffee table in front of me. Spencer trailed behind him and sat on the opposite side of this L-shaped sofa. Terry, however, remained standing, not bothered in slightest by a little wave of worry that passed through the room.

"Just don't freak out or anything. Though, I'm positive you'd be the last person to react on our confession. With you vibrant history and all." He took a deep breath. "I'm a hired gun. A hit man if you please and George is our patron." When, indeed, I didn't react, he continued. "It started about ten years back when George worked on a case of Vivien O'Hare. He used to be a detective, working with high profile crimes. Anyway, one day he came upon a little investigation and being a good detective he is, he looked into it with thoroughness. It was a little paperwork investigation. All he needed to do was to file a report and close the case. But things looked too smooth and similar to another fifty cases he's already seen for the past several years." He cleared his throat. "Vivian was a small town girl and lived all her entire life in one and the same town. When George went to investigate her death, some things didn't stick together. Things like her cheese business and the amount of money she earned by selling her cheese. Which was a lot more than expected. Or the fact that she was a healthy female without a history of violence or any mental illnesses."

"George spent many weeks tracing the connections, looking through the paperwork and where the money went. According to the papers, she invested a good fortune into a property, supposedly a new farmhouse and a land on the other side of the country. By papers, everything looked neat, and when he made some phone calls, the land did exist in the reality. However, when he went to look at it for himself, all that he found was a crumbled piece of territory that definitely wasn't good for a farm let alone a farmhouse. The agency that sold the land showed the same paperwork, with all the right digits and even the taxes, were filed accordingly. The case was dead, and he had nothing else to do but close it and move on."

"Until," Spencer piped up. "He came upon a few more similar cases."

"It was Mike's mother," Chris continued. "She owned a small business, getting by selling handmade aprons, pillow cases, and such stuff. Mike was only sixteen when his mother died. It was seven years ago. Luckily for Mike, George happened to be the detective on the case, and when Mike told him about his mother's strange behavior prior his death, something clicked, and he connected similarities of the case Of Vivien O'Hare and Melissa Bernard."

"So, how do you guys relate to the investigation?" I asked already knowing what I needed to know.

"Three years ago..." Chris started, but Spencer cut him off.

"Chris was married to my sister and when the case of her death was closed we didn't agree on the results. We simply didn't believe that she could commit suicide. She was a person who loved life with passion," Spencer paused getting absorbed in his recollections.

"I see," I replied calmly. "And all those kids?"

"All of the similar cases," Mac replied. His cheerfulness vanished for a second and then reappeared. "It appears to me that you're the only one who escaped."

I clicked my tongue.

"I didn't," I replied drily. "Not in the sense I would prefer."  

    Hello, my little strudels!!! This is my "usual" thank you note. As always I want to thank you for adding "A very Dark tale" to you reading list...reading it...voting for you fav chapters...being nice in your comments...and simply giving my story a shot!!! And of course, for getting this far...     

  THANK YOU! 

  You guys rock!!!! Love you all! 

   Lina :)