"Lilim?" Rebecca asked with a confused and curious look on her face.
"So you do remember me!"
Rebecca immediately closed the door, but Lilim inserted her leg between the door and stopped Rebecca from entirely closing the door.
"Why the hell are you closing the door?!"
"Why should I believe that you are really Lilim?"
"Oh, come on. Have you met any other demons?"
"No."
"Then why are you acting like this?"
"Even if you are Lilim, why are you here?"
Lilim shrugged her shoulders and said, "Can't I come to meet my friend?"
"I don't recall ever being your friend. Now, if you are done. Please leave." Rebecca said as she constantly tried to close the door while kicking Lilim's leg out.
"I am here to talk about Rudy," Lilim stated with a calm smile.
"..." Rebecca opened the door a little and asked, "What about him?"
Lilim took that opportunity to dash into the house while Rebecca stood dumbfounded at the door.
"Excuse me! You can't just enter my home without my permission! I will call the cops on you!" Rebecca yelled as she closed the door.
"Go ahead and call the cops," Lilim scoffed softly. "What will you say? A demon broke into my house? And it's not even your house in the first place, so stop acting like a master."
"..."
Rebecca folded her arms beneath her bosom and stood in front of Lilim with an annoyed face.
"Why do I feel like I am not welcomed here?" Lilim asked with an awkward smile on her face.
"Because you are not."
SIGH!
Lilim sighed and sat on the couch with a sad look on her face.
"To think that we were once friends."
"As I said, I don't recall ever being your friend. We spent like two days together in this house. And that was twenty years ago!"
"Doesn't matter." Lilim yawned and laid down on the couch in a relaxed manner to make herself comfortable.
"..."
"Won't you give me water or juice? Where are your manners, girl?" Lilim then said.
"Excuse me! I am older than you! And why are you here anyway? The diary had no mention of this!"
"Argh! Diary, yeah. Diary this and diary that. You are still following everything in that diary?" Lilim groaned with a sigh. "You don't even know who gave you that diary or how it came to be. Why do you trust the random things you don't even know?"
"I didn't trust it at first. But the events began to happen, and they matched with what was in the diary."
"You have been following that for the past twenty years?"
"Eighteen."
"Doesn't matter."
"So…?" Rebecca gulped down nervously and asked, "You said you were here to talk about Rudy."
"Oh yeah. I met him… accidentally."
"How?"
"Doesn't matter."
"You were here to tell me that?"
"No. I wanted to ask why he still doesn't remember you, me, or others."
Rebecca walked to the kitchen after saying, "Because it's not the right time yet."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Doesn't matter," Rebecca chuckled softly before opening the fridge and taking out a water bottle.
"Don't play with me, Becca."
"You are not allowed to call me that, Lily."
Rebecca filled the glass with water and handed it to Lilim.
"...." Lilim shook her head in disbelief after seeing the glass of water. "Seriously? I was expecting juice."
"Take it or leave it."
"Actually…" Lilim sat up and grabbed the glass while saying, "I will take it. Something sticky is stuck in my throat."
She said while licking her lips.
"Then don't eat strange things."
"It was a drink."
"Then don't drink strange things," Rebecca shrugged.
"Well…" Lilim drank a few sips and said, "That drink was created by Rudy, so I had to drink it."
"What? Wait… don't tell me you found him in the bar!" Rebecca exclaimed. "Was he hanging out with girls?"
"Oh, Rebecca. You are so innocent and naive to think that Rudy is the same as you."
"What… do you mean?" Rebecca asked with a curious and confused look on her face.
"Are you sure you want me to tell you? It might be against what is written in that so-called diary."
"Argh!" Rebecca clenched her fists and muttered, "Don't tell me."
"Heh." After drinking the water, Lilim glanced around and muttered, "Nothing has changed here. Except there are a few extra things here."
"What else?"
"You know, if you hadn't followed that diary, you could be living a different life. You would have had a better home. You could have given Rudy a better life— instead of this… well, old house.
You chose to live this life. You gave Rudy a tough childhood because that's how it was supposed to be. But you know, I don't blame you. You were tasked to raise him, so you had the most responsibility, and you couldn't risk anything.
You sacrificed everything to make it right. I do sincerely hope you find the happiness of your life soon," Lilim calmly said with a smile.
"I will. In three weeks, everything will end."
"Hmm? What's after three weeks?"
"I will turn thirty."
"And…?"
"That's when Rudy is supposed to remember everything."
"I see~" Lilim nodded in amusement and asked, "Was that written in the diary?"
"Yes."
"Can I see it?"
"Obviously not."
Lilim rushed to Rebecca's room and opened her closet.
"How do you even know that's my room?!"
"Because of your scent. Now, show me the diary," Lilim demanded. "I want to know what will happen next."
"No way in hell. What if it changes?!"
"It won't. Only I will be looking at it."
"...." Rebecca reluctantly opened the locker in her closet and handed Lilim the diary.
Lilim turned around and flipped through the pages.
"What are these chapters for?" Lilim asked. "There are nineteen chapters."
"One chapter is one year. It has mentions of major events and what I should avoid at all cost," Rebecca responded in a neutral tone.
"I have only read the eighteen chapters as the last page of the eighteenth chapter clearly mentions and prohibits me from reading the nineteenth chapter until Rudy has remembered everything," she added.
"But I can read it, right?" Lilim uttered as she opened the nineteenth chapter.
Thanks, @IcewaterKat, for the gift!
