Chapter 3:
Aaliyah

Present Day


The woman called herself Lilith.
Aaliyah had never seen her before, but her name—it stirred something deep in her memory. Lilith visited regularly, clipboard in hand, observing them like specimens under a microscope. Each time she came, Aaliyah felt herself healing—pain fading into a dull whisper. They were still prisoners, naked and exposed, but modesty seemed trivial in the face of their reality. They had been captured, restrained, and experimented on. The gags stopped them from speaking, but their eyes said everything. Fear, anger, confusion—they all communicated silently.
Lilith left the room again, her steps echoing faintly in the cold, sterile space. Aaliyah shifted slightly in her restraints, her wrists aching from the metal cuffs. How long have we been here? she wondered. How many days? It felt like time had dissolved in this place, and with no way to speak, no way to move, there was nothing but the chilling silence and the memories of how they ended up here.
Her eyes flitted over her friends—Omarion, Nas, Shawn, and Jasmine. Their faces were a mixture of determination and despair. Omarion strained against his bonds, his body tense, frustration boiling beneath the surface. Normally the calmest among them, Aaliyah could see the anger flickering in his eyes. Nas, usually the one with a joke or a smile, was now focused, his gaze scanning the room for any possible escape. Shawn, as always, was silent and calculating, his expression unreadable but his eyes sharp, processing everything. And Jasmine—Jasmine’s eyes followed Lilith every time she entered, a burning intensity in her gaze, trying to figure out their captor.
Aaliyah’s thoughts swirled back to the moment it all went wrong. She tried to stop herself from wondering: Was this my fault? Should I have trusted my gut when Jasmine decided to help that man?

Two Days Ago – The Alley


The memory came rushing back. They had just finished dinner at The Bullet and were heading back to their hotel when they heard the sound—a faint cry for help coming from a shadowed alley. Without hesitation, Jasmine had led the way, her heart always in the right place, wanting to help. Aaliyah had followed, trusting her friend but with a nagging sense of doubt creeping up her spine.
When they entered the alley, they found an old man, crumpled and weak, begging for help. And then—everything changed. The shadows seemed to move. Hooded figures emerged, their pale skin almost glowing in the dim light, yellow eyes gleaming from under their hoods. Their horns curled upward, and their clawed hands reached out toward the group. Demons.
Aaliyah’s heart raced as panic gripped her. They had tried praying, whispering hurried pleas to God, but the words had no effect. The demons continued their slow, menacing approach. She had frozen, her body locking up in fear. Then one of the demons leaped toward her.
But instead of the claws, she felt a rush of air.
Omarion had moved in front of her, a glowing staff suddenly in his hands, a green halo hovering above his head. With a swift motion, he swung the staff, striking the demon in the chest. The creature screamed as its claws were severed, dissolving into ash before vanishing entirely.
The battle erupted around her in a blur.
Jasmine’s body moved like it had been trained for battle, two glowing red daggers flashing in her hands, her halo casting a crimson light over the alley. She slashed through a demon with deadly precision, spinning and cutting it down in one fluid motion. Nas, with his usual speed and energy, charged forward. A massive axe, glowing bright yellow, appeared in his hands. He swung with all his might, burying the blade into a demon’s skull. The impact was sickening, but the demon faded into nothingness as quickly as it had come.
Shawn was next, his face calm as always, wielding a gleaming sword that reflected the blue light of his halo. He fought with grace and precision, cutting through two demons with calculated strikes, each one dissolving in a flash of light. Aaliyah felt awe and fear rise within her. They had never fought like this before. None of them had.
Then, instinct took over. As two demons lunged for the old man they had tried to save, Aaliyah’s body reacted. A pink halo appeared above her, and suddenly, a bow of light formed in her hands. She didn’t think—she just acted. Two arrows, glowing bright pink, shot from the bow, striking both demons squarely in the chest. They crumbled into ash before her eyes.
And then—silence.
The demons were gone, their bodies disintegrated. Aaliyah stared at the place where her bow had been, watching as it flickered and vanished. The others stood, breathing heavily, their weapons disappearing just as mysteriously as they had appeared.

Present Day


Aaliyah shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. That night felt like a lifetime ago, though it couldn’t have been more than two days. Lilith had appeared soon after the fight, her figure emerging from the shadows. With a simple wave of her hand, she had immobilized them, pulling their bodies together as though they were puppets under her control. Aaliyah had tried to resist, but there was nothing she could do. Darkness swallowed them.
When they woke, they were here, trapped in this cold, sterile room, at the mercy of Lilith.
The door creaked open again, and Lilith entered, her presence unsettling as always. Aaliyah felt her heart race, her pulse thundering in her ears as Lilith approached, clipboard in hand. She moved slowly, studying Aaliyah like she was an animal in a cage.
“I know you’re scared,” Lilith said, her voice smooth, almost comforting, but with an edge of something dark. “But I had to take precautions. You’ve all been through a lot, and soon, you’ll understand why you were quarantined. For now, rest. You’ll be free soon enough.”
With that, Lilith turned and left the room again, her cold indifference making Aaliyah’s skin crawl.
As the door clicked shut, Aaliyah’s mind raced. Lilith. She knew that name. In one of her religion classes, her professor had talked about Lilith—Adam’s first wife in Jewish mythology, who had been cast out for refusing to submit. In other myths, she was a demon, a seductress, dangerous and rebellious.
Aaliyah’s heart sank. If Lilith was the same figure from those stories, they were in far more danger than any of them could have imagined.