THE
Artist: Sam Briggs
Edited by author
Artist: Sam Briggs
Edited by author
Crime: Running away from Adam, the first man ever
created
Punishment: One hundred of her children were to die every day
Alias: Succubus, Vampire
The break room was pretty quiet, perfect for preparing for your next one-on-one. At first glance, the punishment to her crime seemed rather cruel and severe but as you investigated further into her rap sheet, you steadily got more and more nervous. She was the first woman on earth, born from the same dust as the first man, Adam. As Adam became the clear lead in hierarchy, Lilith stuck to the idea that the two were equal and later renounced her duties as his wife and a follower of the divine right. She pledged herself to The Darkness of Night and consequently became a demon reminiscent of a vampire. You closed the file and decided to take a few aspirins for your growing headache. As you headed to the water cooler, you noticed that Robin Hood, one of the veteran agents, was already there.
"Long day ahead of you, mate, " he said. You gave him a look of exasperation. "Yeah, I know all about your meeting with Lilith today. She almost didn't make the team, you know. Her reputation is kind of...intense. She has too much of an anti-authoritative and defiant nature but I guess Daenerys really fought for her to be here. A little word of advice: there is a reason why they say redheads are crazy and this chick is literally the mother of them all." He was referring to the belief that anyone with the gene for red hair is a direct descendent of Lilith.
"That's not advice!" you spat at him. He chuckled as he walked out the room leaving you in a state of bewilderment.
***
It was ironic that your meeting place was not the dingy office where you met Hiko, but in a makeshift garden behind the MBI building. The freesia and roses that made up most of the garden were beautiful but was the beauty of it all was ruined at the sight of Lilith sucking the blood from a dead rabbit. You stopped mid step and took it all in. Lilith continued to feed until it was obvious the animal was bone dry. She smiled in your direction as a single tear of blood dripped from the side of her lips. The woman raised her arm as though she was going to wave but instead she threw the carcass square at your chest. You were going to be sick.
"Sorry, love, but a girl has to eat," she replied slyly. "Come sit and I will tell my tale."
***
The Garden of Eden was paradise, indeed, but only in the physical sense. My happiness with Adam was superficial and deep down, I knew I wanted more than to be an ornament on his arm. It was clear he was the favorite from the way the animals and angels looked at him with complete envy and awe. This had always annoyed me to no end because I never saw him as my superior, only as my companion. We were supposed to be equals. We were from the same dust that breathed in life, after all. Oh how Adam's actions towards me during our last days together used to bring about my rage! It was the day God punished the angel Satan by striking him down to Earth. The two were always battling to be God’s favorite and when Satan lost a challenge to name all of the animals, he refused to pay homage to Adam and was cast out of Heaven. I could feel a buzz in Adam's demeanor. I know now that this is called the male ego and his was filling up the entire garden. I remember feeling so annoyed at his happiness.
“Wife, the traitor Satan has been banished from the Heavens. Let us celebrate by being one,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me but I pushed him away. I was not in the mood to concede to his cockiness. He was not happy with my behavior.
“I do not care, Adam,” I sighed to him. “Everyone already knew you were supreme. You made that clear a long time ago.”
"Stop being so dramatic. Now, lie beneath me, woman!" he exclaimed as he tried to push me to the ground.
His sense of entitlement disgusted me. If he was so pious, then why try to covet me in such a horrid manner? I was able to get away from him and I ran as far away from the Garden as I could manage. I belong to no man and I am second best to no one. When God's peasants, I mean angels, found me in my relaxed exile, they threatened to kill one hundred of my children a day if I did not return to Adam. I refused as I could not go back to a man I did not love nor respect. I found solace in the demons by the Red Sea and declared my allegiance to them.
Because Adam was such a whiney baby, God was forced to make another helpmeet. I always thought God created her to counter the image of me. Eve was the exact opposite of the powerful being I am. She was created from the rib bone of Adam, causing her to be a lesser being, thus her subservience to her mate. When word spread that she was the reason for their banishment, I cannot say I wasn't pleasantly thrilled. Surprised, however, no. She was made to follow the direction of males, even if he was a serpent. I almost felt sorry that she was too dim to understand that she was nothing more than a case for Adam's offspring. That feeling didn’t last very long and the anger set in. Every day I got my revenge on the fair woman's children while making my own. But that part of my life is over now. I have spent centuries being bitter and I have a duty to take care of my remaining children- my lovely children who fight for gender equality.
Author's Note: I wanted to incorporate Robin Hood into my story to really merge more characters into the myth and folklore world. This is a retelling of Adam's first wife Lilith. According to Ginzberg’s Jewish legend, the two were born at the same time from the same dust. As Adam became the clear lead in hierarchy, Lilith stuck to the idea that the two were equal and later renounced her duties as his wife and a follower of the divine right. God's wrath involved a punishment of Lilith losing one hundred of her own children each day. She takes revenge by raping the male descendants of Adam and murdering the daughters of Eve. I wanted to expand on the theory that the world is populated with a mixture of Eve and Lilith’s children. The reading of Ginzberg included a picture of Lilith with red hair so I wanted to create a twist that a person who carries the recessive genetic trait for red hair is related to Lilith in some way. Since naturally red hair is not that common in the human population, I felt that it went parallel with God’s punishment. I also wanted to elaborate on Lilith’s desire for gender equality for that was the reason she got banished from the Garden of Eden. After some outside research, I have found that she is either labeled as the first female vampire or an evil succubus. She is also referred to as the first feminist hero. Please also note that this is not intended to offend anyone (especially redheads) or their beliefs.
Bibliography: Ginzberg, L. The Legend of the Jews. 1909. Lilith.
Green, J. Lilith: The Mother of all Vampires. Literally. 2014.
