Child’s Play: Part Two
Rated a loose R for “thematic” elements (I’ll star the passage so you can skip it if you feel the need)
Please read part one; you won’t understand this otherwise. Thank you.
A girl with straight black hair and cold blue eyes sat down across from Priyesh. Her face held the same look as his, full of some unidentifiable something that conjured in Mimi a feeling of nervous elation. Her hair had strips of lipstick red and swollen vein purple that clung to her features and matched her elaborate face paint. She regarded Mimi with slight disdain before saying. “Hello…roommate.” The last word was drawn from her ashen lips; it seemed, unwillingly. She glared at Mimi with a mixture of appreciation and disdain.
“I’m sorry? Roommate?” Mimi gazed up at the long, pallid face with multiple piercings and down at the necklaces, chains, and crosses strung around her thin neck, looking more than a little nonplussed.
Priyesh intervened. “Mimi, you will be living in the dorm next to Lilith’s. It’s the only vacant one in the girls’ dormitories. I’d imagine you two will get to know each other pretty well, the next few nights.” Priyesh smiled slightly at Lilith, who smirked back.
“Well, I just came to see what you look like, Milanka.” She drummed her neon green nails against the table and studied Mimi like the squirming contents in a Petri dish.
Short; terribly short with wide, sleepy brown eyes and supple lips; a round face framed with dirty blonde curls… she looked so soft, so easygoing. No scars, no needle marks, no lines across her gentle features. No signs of someone who had faced hardship of any kind. She had the distinct air of someone who has been well cared for; or who has cared for themselves so well that their cheerfulness is utterly self-contained and supplemental to the happiness one would find in a healthy upbringing.
Lilith felt a sort of inner thirst being quenched, while hating Mimi for quenching it. She did not want to be in awe of Mimi’s demeanor but she was; and it irritated her immensely to face a person who bore her pain so well that no sign of anguish bore mark upon her face. It was just… inhuman.
****Mimi grew hot under Lilith’s derisive stare but said nothing, silently noting the intricate lines of red crisscrossing up and down her arms, not attempting to hide. The cuts were fresh, not even a day old; and made with a delicate blade by a seasoned veteran. Mimi could tell that Lilith put time, planning and effort into the design, possibly even standing in front of the mirror watching the thin lines of blood stream down her body, smiling at her work as the blade bit into her soft flesh, moving quickly and mercilessly along her thin arms.
There were deep scars and shallow ones; which meant that Lilith had experimented with pressure and strokes; increasing with her excitement until the deed ended with one beautiful, remarkable, and unspeakably terrible gash across her left shoulder; the one where she got a little too carried away; where she was brought back to her white, sterile bathroom were blood was flowing freely into the sink, blood was sprinkled on the mirror, blood pooled beneath her feet, and Lilith stood there: smudged makeup and greasy striped hair, reveling in her masterpiece. She held her breath and listened to blood drip, felt it slide down her arms to the tips of her fingers; felt the mounting tension as it pulled downward, forming into a droplet, and shuddered in ecstasy as it landed on the floor with a beautiful “Plunk! Plip! Splish!” Later, she would clean up; put antiseptic on her wounds, later she would wash her face and go to dinner. Later. But now she dipped one finger into the blood and swirled it around languidly, smearing it across her chest. It was warm, so warm, and seemed to throb with a rhythm all its own. She closed her eyes and let it slide down her stomach, shaking with pleasure, sickness and pain. *****
Lilith noticed her stare and leaned forward.
“There isn’t one single thing you can’t get your hands on in this pace. Drugs, alcohol, sharp edges… you want it, someone will be able to provide it.” Lilith’s eyes burned flickering flame blue as they met Mimi’s. “So... what’s your craving?” Mimi looked down at her hands before replying,
“ Quite honestly, I have an insatiable addiction to centuries-old champagne that was found in Benjamin Franklin’s hidden cellar… and opium that was grown by nuns in Argentinean convent; packaged with holy wafers in a box made of elaborately carved gold and carried to America by barefooted virgins.” Priyesh snorted and Lilith looked at Mimi with appreciation.
“Alright princess, don’t tell me what your problem is. But everyone’s going to know, sooner or later. There are no secrets at Jeremiad’s.” And with that Lilith stood up, straightening her five-foot-ten frame, and said, “Don’t forget about the party, Priyesh. And invite my smartass roommate, will you? I wouldn’t want lose any time bonding with her.”
When she had left the cafeteria, Priyesh smiled. “Lilith is the queen of dysfunctional teenagers; she has an intensive schedule with no group therapy. They’re afraid she’ll sow seeds of rebellion in our peers, but…” Priyesh broke off and struggled with the expansive concepts he was trying to crush into simplistic terms.
“You’ll soon see that there are two kinds of people here. The kind that band together against the institution, who defy treatment, and those who put up a good fight in the beginning… but burn out. You’re either a flickering candle, or a forest fire in one square foot of forest.” He broke off, his eyes color of murky marshes shrouded in fog and desolation.
“Chuck was pissed off with what you said today. I chimed in because I wanted to share a little of the blame… but tomorrow is going to be brutal for you.” The cafeteria was nearly empty now, and Priyesh waited as a large group passed by their table before continuing on a more cheerful note. “But hey, at you’ll be taking him on with a solid thirty minutes of sleep and a belly full of Dos Equis. The party is in Deli’s room; we have some free time right now if you want me to show you the way—”
“Who said I was going? I’ve got to unpack, make some calls, and take a few deep breaths. I don’t want to be coerced into joining any occults just yet.”
Priyesh was aghast. “You’re not coming? Lilith didn’t just invite you. She gave an executive order. Besides, what about that speech on ‘new sensations’ and ‘trying everything?’ Don’t tell me that was a bunch of bullshit.”
Mimi sighed. “Maybe you can be thrust out of your life one night and have the energy to party the next, but I’m still moving through the stages of denial. Besides, I have never experienced a decent fourteen-hour sleep, either. And that sounds a little more enjoyable tonight.” Milanka stood, up straightening her five- foot- nothing frame, and turned to go.
Priyesh stood up too. “Well, at least let me show you around. You’re not going to deny me that, are you?”
“Actually Priyesh… I feel like being alone right now. Thanks, but no thanks.” Milanka walked to the door, leaving Priyesh standing next to the table with his hands in his pockets; looking slighted and forsaken. With one petite hand grasping the cold steel, she turned and glanced back at his hunched frame. “And Priyesh? Please… don’t bother being nice to me. I’m not worth the effort.”
**I know it’s recommended that I wait a week but this is more of a transitional piece. The heavy-duty stuff comes after this. **
In any case...
I assume you choose Lilith because of its biblical significance? It suits her perfectly.
okay i only really saw one typo there, and that was: 
Like some others, I found the change in POV a bit jarring, which disrupted the flow. However, that's an easy fix. If you don't feel like being all super creative about it, you can just add the usual stuff like "Lilith remembered..." or "Mimi observed..." 
), awesome story, super original, and I'm off to read the next section! 
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