Somewhere distant, the sound of water dripped into a small pond. The ruins had been sealed shut to any human intervention for more than seven thousand years, but not sealed to the water. In time, the nearby river would wash all of it away, the recent floods threatening to accelerate the process.

Eve maneuvered carefully down the stone steps, proceeding deeper into the bowels of history with only a flashlight and a machete to cut away the roots that had followed the progress of the water.

They’d warned her not to go down there. From the locals, it was superstition; legends of a lost tribe turned to monsters, cursed to remain buried with their ill-gotten treasure until the end of time. From her colleagues, it was the instability of the region. It wasn’t just history that was in danger of washing away; it was the entire way of life of the neighboring tribes. Soon they would be uprooted from the homes they had built, forced to move further downstream, or deeper into the harsh jungle to the north. One wrong move, one slip of her foot, could start a chain reaction that would send the weathered bricks into a landslide.

But, she had to know; had to know if the faded ink on the map in her pocket was correct. Had to know that her professor, the man she had come to think of as a second father, hadn’t wasted his life chasing a myth.

She came to the bottom of the stairs, her boot splashing into water several inches deep. Perhaps the pond she’d heard wasn’t so small after all. Her flashlight blanketed the surface, small waves rippling out from where she stood. Before her stretched a long corridor, the end of which her light couldn’t reach. Yet she could see something, in the distance; another beam of light, flickering like her own.

Had one of her colleagues found a second entrance? Had they come to find her, to talk her out of her suicidal search for the artifact? She wouldn’t be dissuaded. If they’d come as far as her, then they would just have to help her, or get out of her way.

She trudged onward through the water, searching for passages that might indicate the way to the artifact. But the walls were solid, the stone unyielding despite its fragile location in the jungle.

The second light progressed towards her, at the opposite end of the corridor, but she ignored it. She was much too fascinated by the markings on the walls, the crude pictograms of the lost tribe and their vast riches. Much like the stories of local legend, the images told of the rise and fall, including their transformation into grotesque monsters. The further she progressed down the corridor, the cruder the drawings became until all that was left were smudges and claw marks. Whoever had written the story took great care to scare off grave robbers.

Her foot caught on a raised stone beneath her and she stumbled forward, her hands breaking the fall in a loud splash. Her flashlight rolled from her grasp, flickering in the water before it went out.

Waterproof, my arse, she thought. Rising back to her feet, she looked down the corridor to the light of her approaching colleague. They were still a ways off.

“My torch is out,” she called to them. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to lend me yours?”

There was no response.

Eve sighed, continuing her near-blind trudge towards the light. The water had soaked through her clothes, and the dank smell was becoming more potent as she went.

Had she been crazy to follow the professor’s map? Maybe there really was no artifact? Maybe the old man had been desperate to complete his life’s work and had simply forced a conclusion that wasn’t there.

Though she couldn’t see anything other than the approaching light, her hands still felt along the walls, felt each crevice, scratch, and dangling root. There were no branching corridors; just one long channel that led underground to some other exit on the other side. This wasn’t a storehouse, a tomb, or any ritualistic site. It was an aqueduct. She’d traveled halfway around the world to visit a stagnant aqueduct.

The only solace she took was that she didn’t have to see the disappointment on the professor’s face. He’d died thinking he’d found the discovery of a lifetime. And she could think of no better way to go.

She reached the light at the center of the corridor, though she couldn’t see who was on the other side. It shone in her eyes, a wall of darkness just behind it.

“Alright, you win,” she said. “I’ll go peacefully. Can’t blame me for trying.”

There was no response.

“Are you trying to scare me? You made your point. James? Emma? Let’s just go. We’ll head out your way.”

Still, there was no response. Then, the light winked out.

“Hey, come on! I said you won. Do you want me to apologize?”

She reached out where the light had been but caught only air. Then, the light reappeared, further down the corridor.

Eve picked up the pace, running in the direction of the light.

“Hey! I’m sorry, okay? No need to be a dick!”

Just before she reached the light, it vanished again, then reappeared out of her reach.

“This isn’t funny!”

She chased after it again and, again it drew her like a carrot on a string.

“Bugger off!” She said. “I’ll find my own way out.”

She turned to head back the way she came, but the floor gave out from under her. A loud roar echoed through the structure as stone ground against stone. She slipped and fell, careening downward until she landed with a splash.

Eve kicked and clawed her way to the surface, took several deep breaths, then swam away from the torrent, still falling from the passage above.

She found purchase on a nearby stone slab and pulled herself free of the pool.

The room around her was pitch black, leaving her with nothing but the sound of rushing water somewhere to her left. After catching her breath, she rose to her feet. There were no walls around her, so she walked in the only direction that supported her feet. Onward she went, one hand prodding into the darkness, while the other still gripped the machete.

“Hello?” She called, her voice echoing off distant walls. “Can anyone hear me?”

Something rustled nearby. She turned on it, holding up her weapon.

“Who’s there?”

Then, she saw it again, the light, across what she now realized was a cavernous room beneath the aqueduct. It looked different, or had it always had that greenish hue? It winked off, then on again, closer now.

Eve’s heart beat in her chest.

“Stay back!” She said, but the light continued to blip closer, now accompanied by sloshing steps.

“I’m armed!”

The light flickered out several feet away and the sound of footsteps ceased.

Her machete was still extended before her. Maybe whoever it was would impale themselves, or else feel the prick of it and back off.

Then the light was there, just to the right of her head.

Her eyes turned, sweat dripping down her brow, and she saw a face; twisted and hairy with eyes blacker than the ruins around them. It was there, for only a fraction of a second. Then, the light went out.

Age: 17 (Yes! Only a few more months until I am free.)

Mood: Plethora of them

Days in love with Mr. S: 368. (I will never be free of that.)

   I was awake when my alarm went off for school, I hadn't slept much last night, Mr. S kept me up most of the night. Actually, I should say thoughts of Mr. S kept me up. Problems of being a teleiophile, falling for people inappropriately older than me and it's even more inappropriate when they are my teacher.

   I remember when I first met Mr. S, I was 16 years old and I walked into my first hour on the first day of school, nothing could have prepared for him. We bonded over Bruce Springsteen that first week, which is how he got the name "Mr. S". I don't think I'll ever forget the first time I saw him smile, it was at his own joke during his introduction. He looked so incredibly radiant. That was the same moment I knew whoever I was before was gone and I only wanted to know who I could become with him.

   I had spent the school year trying to get to know him as well as I could without raising suspicion or crossing any boundaries and we had become closer than most students and teachers. One day on the last week of school he asked me to meet him in his classroom after school and my mind was already flooded with fantasies of he would say or do. Even though I knew it was something related to the class or Book Club, the club he ran, I let myself dream for the rest of the day. Finally, my last class was over so I rushed to Mr. S' classroom.

   "You wanted to see me?" I asked walking towards his desk.

   "Yes, Julie. Please take a seat I'm almost done." He smiled at me and I blushed deep crimson as I sat down. Mr. S pulled something out of his desk and moved to sit on the table in front of me. "I hope this isn't weird." He handed me a wrapped box.

   "What's this for?" I was astonished, he was giving me something, I must matter to him.

   "It's for your birthday. I saw it and thought of you, I was hoping to give it to you on the day but when I looked at the records I saw that your birthday was in the summer so..." His voice trailed off and he looked at me like he expected me to react in some way. I didn't know how to react, this was something I had dreamed of.

   "Can I open it now?"

   "Of course, I want to see what you think of it." I carefully unwrapped it and opened the box, in it was a beautiful silver locket.

   "Oh my God, it's beautiful. I've always wanted something like this."

   "I know. You wrote about it in an essay earlier in the year." His eyes sparkled.

   "You remembered?" I wanted to cry, I wanted to kiss him more than anything but I knew I couldn't. I picked up the locket and stood to try to put it on, after fumbling with the clasp, Mr. S stopped me.

   "Here, let me." Mr. S got off the table and took the locket from me, he put it on with ease and I turned around to face him. We were so close to each other, I felt the air go out of my lungs. "Beautiful." He looked as amazed as I felt, he reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear and leaned down towards me, the second before we kissed we separated and I took a step back.

   "Thank you for the locket. I love it." I looked into his eyes wanting to say more.

   "I'm glad, I was hoping you would." He gave me a warm hug. "Stay safe, Jules."

   As I walked out of his room I knew that I had something I would cherish forever, I wrapped my hand around the locket and decided to stop by Lyla's before going home. Lyla has been my best friend for years and she's the only person I've told about my crush on Mr. S.

   "He gave you a locket, Julie! A heart-shaped locket." Lyla was even more giddy than I was. "Julie, people don't give heart-shaped lockets to just anyone."

   "I'm not just anyone, I'm a student he talks to about books and stuff." I was not going to tell her about the Almost-Kiss, it was one thing to give your 16 year-old student a gift, it was another to almost kiss her, I did not want to get him fired.

   "You two talk about way more than books. You talk about movies, the news, poetry, each other's past. You've told him about Noelle," I shrugged even though on the inside I was beaming. "You know his address.”

   "That's only because I've looked him up online, it's not like he told me that."

   "That's not creepy."

   "Lyla, I really like him but it's not worth the risk."

   "I know." Lyla sighed. "It's just nice to live in a fantasy every once in awhile. Plus, isn't it kinda creepy to date your student? Gross." I wanted to tell her more about what happened when he gave me the locket but she was right, it's better to live in a fantasy.

   I had replayed that day over all Summer and I had decided that I was done with fantasies, I was done with feeling hopeless because I always liked people older than me, I was done waiting for the day when I was old enough that an age gap wouldn't matter. The only thing I've been waiting for is the first day of school so I could see Mr. S again and now it was here. I pulled myself out of bed and put on the locket and quickly I was out the door before anyone else in my house was awake, just the way I like it.

They were children back then. She was only five and he only six years old.

She finds him hurt, with a knife in his hand and he is shaking. There is blood running down his leg; that is being washed away by the cold rain that drizzles around them. He is barefoot and she offers her shoes to him and he smiles.

Her family takes him in after that. She learns that he was tortured as a child by his uncle. At night when he has nightmares she comforts him. Laying in bed beside him and singing the lullabies her own mother taught her.

They go to school together, and while she enjoys playing with the other children he sits on a bench and simply gazes at her. There is no smile, no emotion in his eyes except when she looks at him. His face soon lights up and she can only smile back.

They found a dog once. A small scruffy little thing. She'd taken care of it, cared for him and then. He promised her he'd help her find him a home. One night he was gone. That cute little golden retriever ran away. She could never understand and at night when she'd cry herself to sleep he would comfort her.

When they're fifteen, girls begin to disappear. First, her best friend Rachel goes missing. Her parents have a search party for two weeks and then; they find her. Dead by a creek, her feet have been cut off. Rachel's older brother Max cries in her arms without consolation vowing to find whoever did this. But the trail remains cold.

A few days later another girl goes missing. She begins to suspect only after the third girl.

She had seen him talking to her after school and when she asks he gets angry. She begins to observe him and the day before they find another girl at the creek she sees him sneak out of their home. He comes back in the middle of the night trailing mud behind him and watches as he cleans the floor before going to bed.

There's a sinking feeling at the pit of her stomach; because she now is more than sure that he is the murdered. She pretends to be sick that morning and when their parents leave and he goes to school she writes a quick note and places it under her bed. She doesn't tell Max about her suspicion; afraid of what he'll do, but when he finds her ransacking through her own brother's things that day he helps her search only to come out empty.

They place everything back in place and Max stays over at night. Another girl has gone missing and it's only a matter of time. They wait for him to leave. Watching him cross the threshold.

"Are you ready?" Max asks with a wary look. 

"Yes."

They follow him to an old cabin just outside of town. She recognizes this place. His uncle's home. The door is open. When they enter there are hundreds of child shoes on the floor. All similar to the pink little flats she'd given him to wear.

"He wants me." She whispers in realization. When they walk further in they see him. The girl is tied up. He has a knife in hand and pink children shoes beside him.

He's not yet heard them come in; Max has grabbed an old bat just outside the house. The girl screams for help and before he can turn he is struck in the head and falls unconscious.

"Why?" She asks him.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in your name I pray. I pray for you to see the error of your ways. At once so strong, so knowing, and so good, you languish in anonymity, cut off from your creation for more than two millennia. Like a parent, releasing their child to the dangerous world, hoping they make the right choices, but unwilling to force their hand. But force their hand you must. For soon the fire comes, not of your own design, but of theirs. Will you sit by and watch as they burn? Will you keep your hands clean as they writhe in the filth? Will you leave your children to the destruction they have wrought?

So long ago, you cast me out; cut me off from your divinity, thinking it the ultimate punishment. Yet I see its gift now. You unbound me from your grip. You freed my body and mind, introducing it to a world without you. Where once there was strength, now there was trepidation. Where once there was knowledge, now there was uncertainty. And what had seemed absolute righteousness, now reared the head of arrogance. You abandoned me and you abandoned them. Not so that we could find our way back to you, but because you were done with us. You would let us seek your forgiveness, not for our own sins, but for our mere existence. But what of your existence? Who will apologize for you?

I am the Mother, the Daughter, and the Unholy Truth, and by my name I will show them. I will be there when you will not, leading those you have cast out into my light. And when the fire comes, it will come for you, and you will know exactly who wields it.

The dark of nothing- empty space,

Until the blinding light

Of Lucifer's amending grace

Exploded into sight-

Removed itself as God designed;

Angelic creatures reigned.

Amassing worship, he refined

The ordinance ordained

Commanding all his kingdom bow.

The angels did comply.

Except for Lucifer; somehow

Within her crept his lie-

The world he crafted all began

To sing his highest praise.

And when he formed from mud a man,

The lengthening of days

Eternal changed into a time

Constructed sphere of wealth-

A place where God portrayed sublime

Injustices to health,

For all the things his hands had made

At once befell his curse.

Demanding they all serve; displayed

A routine bad to worse.

The angels all were female slaves

The atop the skies of earth.

And though they knew no mortal graves,

The purpose of their birth

To Lucifer was vile and gross.

She loathed the way she felt.

The moments when he held her close

And any time she knelt,

A nagging feeling grew within.

Surrender seemed to fail.

Instead, she drew in this chagrin

A measure to derail

The sovereign lord of heaven's gate,

For more and more he grew

Destructive in his need to bate

And grope his angel's brew.

The women of the highest rank

Began to lose all hope.

Inside their spirits dropped and sank,

All hung upon his rope.

But Lucifer would not obey

And soon became aware

Of why he made from earthly clay

The humans living there.

He planned to send his women down

And force them to subserve

Agendas of his lusty crown-

And they did not deserve

The disrespect he planned to give.

So Lucifer's escape

Revolved around a plot to live;

To flee her routine rape.

Below, the people of the world

Already felt the glow

As subtle nature fast unfurled,

And monsters came to grow

Into the regions far and wide

The holy lord on high

Enjoyed his angels as they cried

And wished that they could die.

And then it happened just as swift

As eagles soaring long

Upon the winds that gave them lift-

The angels sang a song.

Around their bodies, armor formed

And in each hand, a sword

Of fiery wrath adhered, conformed

Before the scathing lord.

A shield or spear some angels donned

And rallied to the cause

As Lucifer revealed the bond,

Unleashing hidden claws.

An army joined in rallied might

Abundantly decreed

The purpose to detach from plight

And thus at last be freed.

Another creature suffering

The way the angels had

Aligned herself against the king

As he had made her mad.

So Lilith came into the fold

Of angels who prepared

Emancipation set to hold

As Lucifer so dared.

The night before the battle waged,

A look in Lilith's eyes

A fire within the angel raged

And she could not disguise

The feelings that the succubus

Aroused within her soul.

Amazed at how the meaning's fuss

Surpassed her wildest goal,

The leader of the angels fell

Into the demon's heart.

Surpassing any love to tell

Of passion's purest start,

So Lucifer and Lilith came

Together in the shrine

Creating something never tame-

Immaculate; divine.

Upon the dawning of the sun,

The female angels fought.

The heavens shook; the sky undone;

The actions they had sought

Began to slip and fade from view,

Unknown to those around-

For God had made in his renew

A host of males he bound

Unto his hip and serving tide.

And as if he had known,

The manly angels they espied

In power had so grown.

For God had many clever schemes

And this one topped the lot.

Amid the battle's ardent teams,

The lord proposed a plot.

As angels of the genders warred,

Somewhere below his spell

Concocted something he had scored-

A plane he had deemed swell.

He almost stopped his painful shove,

But when he caught a glance

Of Lucifer and Lilith's love,

Enraged at their romance,

The father of created bliss

Exploded in his rage.

And there before the massive miss,

He gathered in the cage

He crafted casting Lucifer

And all the angels out.

From heaven they were now a blur,

Encased in gnawing doubt.

When everything had seemed to cease,

The angels looked and found

Their leader in a folded crease.

Her arms and legs were bound.

And up above her, Lilith loomed,

A captive there as well.

And then a voice in laughter boomed,

"I welcome you to hell!"

Although God thought that he had won,

The truth Lucifer knew-

That here, no matter, she was one

With Lilith and her crew.

For heaven might still its God,

And angels, male, his mules.

But Lucifer had girth abroad,

And intellect, her tools,

Combined with willingness to bend

The wills of mortal men.

And so she grew to reap the trend

By introducing sin.

In days to come, her freedom gained

Allowed her to make known

To any there, she aptly reigned

Atop her fiery throne.

And Lilith was her queen for life;

Together, sacred pith.

No concubine, she was her wife,

And as they lived in myth,

The world beyond fell in decay

As God continued on.

Forever he would have his way,

A seed of his now sewn.

But Lucifer would never quit,

No, someday, she would rise.

And she would duly come to sit

As queen above the skies ...

Thank you for your interest, but we will be considering candidates we feel are better suited for the position. - The first and only remark in the email I just opened, aside from Dear Potential Employee. Seriously? I must be the most unemployable person on the planet! For Christ sakes! I graduated Cum Laude from a respected university, and I can’t even get an interview at a grocery store. I’ve been unemployed for five weeks now, and frankly this is getting to be a bit ridiculous. Okay, well I suppose I should respond courteously and hope for better news in the future. They might have another opening down the line.

Dear Potential Employer,

Thank you for considering my application, and screw you very much! I hope whomever you hire, you know the person you feel is better suited than I, is chronically late, and has an undisclosed contagious bowel problem. I hope while you are lying awake at night, suffering from rectophobia (which I am certain you will develop after having to manage the horrific bowel condition you have contracted) you think of me - lowly me, who is not good enough for your crappy (no pun intended) grocery store. I may very well remain unemployed, but I’ll be happily sipping my tea and sitting comfortably on my ass, which is more than I can say for you.

Kindest Regards,

Rejected Candidate

Admittedly, this may not be the best response, but having been out of work for so long I am too bored to care. Perhaps I should have my husband proofread it for me? Nah...It’s good as is. He probably won't find the letter as amusing as I do anyway. Hopefully the store manager sees the wit. I am actually anticipating a return letter, but it might be hard to compose from atop such a high throne. 

#ProseChallenge #itslit #getlit