by Rue Volley
The memory of me cried out, and Josh rubbed his neck.
“I remember that; that was hot,” he said.
I hit him in the chest and looked at Johnathan, who looked hurt; he really did.
I bit my lip, and he looked away.
“I have seen enough, Lizzy,” he said, almost in a whisper.
I lowered my head and looked at my hands. I felt dirty suddenly, and vulnerable. Very, very vulnerable. I didn’t like feeling this way; I didn’t. I felt Josh grab my hand, and I pulled it from him.
“Don’t,” I said.
Lizzy laughed and snapped her fingers.
We all stood back in the house, in the room we started in.
“See… doesn’t it feel like a weight has been lifted?” Lizzy asked, as she stepped from Johnathan and stared at me.
“The only weight I am lifting tonight is your black heart from your chest,” I said.
Lizzy laughed and hunched her shoulders.
“Oh! Spoken like a true warrior!” she said.
“Shut the fuck up,” Josh said.
I turned to him and raised my eyebrows. Josh had been unusually quiet, on our entire trip through ‘Who is Rue humping?’ land and I crossed my arms on my chest.
“Oh, are you joining in now?” I asked him.
He grinned, a grin I had seen from him once before. It was the same one he sported right before he went all badass on Blake in the cave, and I let my arms relax.
Kai ran in, with Sam following him, and slid across the floor.
“There is food…! And when I say food… I mean, everything you can imagine,” he yelled out.
Lizzy smiled and glanced at him. She raised her hand, and he stopped dead, grabbing his throat as he lifted from the floor. She did a little twisty thingy with her fingers, and he yelped and flew across the room, slamming into the wall. He slumped to the ground and didn’t move. I yelled out to him and tried to run, but Josh grabbed my hand and jerked me back.
“Kai?!” I screamed.
Sam gritted her teeth and placed her feet apart. She shook her hands out, and Josh looked at her and shook his head quickly. Her chest rose and fell, as her breathing quickened, and I stood there, my eyes filling with tears. Lizzy smiled and looked back at me.
“That was easy,” she said.
I looked at Josh, and he pulled me behind him and stood there, taller than I think I have ever seen him stand before. I would have protested, but his energy shifted…to something I had never felt before. Lizzy smiled and stared him down.
“What is it, Joshua...? Are you all in protection mode?” she asked him.
Josh wiggled his fingers, and Lizzy looked at his hands.
“Oh, you are pissed… I get it. I really do. But how do you think Johnathan feels? I mean, he has been cheated, his whole life a lie, and now the one girl he wanted has abandoned him.”
I leaned around Josh and looked at Johnathan.
“I didn’t abandon Johnathan; I never would,” I said.
Johnathan glanced at me, and I bit my lip.
His face was paler than usual, and his eyes getting darker by the minute.
I swallowed and touched Josh’s arm.
“Lizzy, this ends here… we all know it. So, why the delay?” Josh asked.
The door slammed open, and Clytie came strolling in, blood all over her mouth… She grinned and wiped her lip with her finger and looked around the room. I grabbed Josh’s arm and held my breath. Clytie stopped, placing her hand on her hip, and looked at Lizzy.
“What... no invitation, Aiwass? I am hurt.” She said.
Lizzy rolled her eyes and looked back at her.
“What do you want, Clytie?” Lizzy asked her.
“Front row,” Clytie said.
Lizzy looked back at us and shook her head.
“Groupies… what a pain in the ass,” She said.
Josh looked at Clytie, and she tilted her head and grinned.
“Oh! Lookie lookie, the gang is all here,” she said.
I stepped out and stared her down.
“I will kill you myself,” I said.
Clytie laughed and looked at her nails.
“Did Joshua tell you about how much fun we had… in his bed?” she asked.
I glanced at Josh, and he shrugged his shoulders.
I raised my eyebrows and frowned.
“You didn’t.”
Clytie laughed and shook her head.
“Oh, but he did… and quite well I might add.”
Josh looked at me and grinned.
“I thought it was you,” he said.
I shook my head and stared her down.
“Nice… so you have to use tricks to get laid, sounds like desperation,” I said.
Clytie looked at me and lowered her head, still staring at me… like some crazy bitch.
“You are but a small creature in a much larger world,” she said.
“You are but a skank in an ugly dress,” I said.
She looked down, and Lizzy laughed.
“Oh! She has bite! I love it,” she said.
Clytie looked at her and shook her head.
“Whose side are you on?” Clytie asked.
“Mine,” Lizzy said, as she hissed and waved her hand.
Clytie rose, just slightly, and moaned a little, as her toes pointed towards the ground. Lizzy held her there for a moment and then released her. Clytie fell on her side and looked at her. Lizzy flashed to her quickly and leaned down.
“I would suggest that you be silent,” she said, as she waved her hand over her mouth and Clytie’s mouth disappeared.
Clytie’s eyes got wide, and she touched her now lipless face, as her fingers trembled.
Lizzy looked back at us and grinned.
“Sometimes you just gotta let a bitch know who is in charge,” she said, as her eyes rolled to black and her face lost its color and turned pale white.
“Elizabeth Crowley.”
We all looked at the door; a man stood there… tall, dressed in black. I looked at Sam and then at Josh. I had no idea who this man is, but he looked stern and he seemed to know Lizzy… so maybe it was time to back up. Josh grabbed my hand and had the same thought. Sam walked to us quickly, and we all slowly backed up, to get some distance from whatever this was.
Lizzy turned and looked at the man. She stumbled a little and then regained her stance. The man stepped in and lowered his head, as he looked around the room. His gaze settled on her, and she looked smaller all of a sudden, like he made her smaller. I looked up at Josh, and he held his hand up to me, not saying a word. Sam was also silent, and because the two of them kept quiet, it made me wonder even more.
The man took a few steps and stopped, looking at Johnathan and then at Lizzy again.
“What have you done?” he asked her.
Lizzy played with her hands and then put them behind her back. She started to twist her heel into the floor. I looked at the man who glanced at me, and I looked down. His eyes looked soulless, and it sent a chill up my spine. Josh gripped my hand and kept me by his side. His body tensed up, and Sam moved closer to my other side.
The man looked at Lizzy again and tilted his head.
“I will not ask you again, Elizabeth,” he said, with an even deep tone.
“I am sorry, Father,” she said, as she lowered her head and looked at the ground.
“Who is that?” I whispered.
The man looked at me and grinned.
He took off his top hat and held it in front of him, gripping the rim of it with both hands.
“Rue Volley,” he said.
I swallowed, and Josh gripped my hand tighter. He glanced at me and shook his head a little. He walked towards us, as Lizzy stepped away to get out of his way still looking at the floor, and he stopped about 6 feet away from the three of us and looked us all over.
“Protectors, all three of you,” he said.
Josh stood his ground, and I moved a little behind him. I didn’t feel like a cow
ard, but I also don’t feel like a hero. I think maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
The man looked at me and smiled.
“You can ask questions, love; it is in your nature. So full of life,” he hissed and sucked in his breath, and he smelled the air.
I bit my lip, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
He stopped and grinned at me.
“You smell like honey, sweet and pure,” he said. “What a sweet feast you would be.”
He turned and looked at Johnathan, who stood there motionless.
“Johnathan Graph, I would have expected you to be standing in a bloody pile of meat and bones by now… Tell me, why do you hang onto your compassion, when it tears at you and eats away at your insides?” he asked.
Johnathan looked at him and gritted his teeth.
“I am a protector,” he said.
The man laughed and floated to him quickly. It looked spooky, like an old movie… or maybe a new one. I don’t know. All I do know is that this man smells like sulfur, and I covered my mouth and coughed.
He glanced back at me and winked.
“I added that little detail, for theatrics. I assure you that I do not smell this way,” he said.
I knew then that I didn’t have to talk to him. He could hear my thoughts, and I tried to shut them off, to get him out of my head. The man turned back to Johnathan and grinned, as he looked him over.
“You are an exquisite creature…a perfect blend of human and protector, oh and a little bit of me,” he said.
“Who are you?” Johnathan asked, as his skin continued to become paler and small cracks started to form on his skin, black lines just like Lizzy.
The man smiled and moved behind him.
He touched his shoulder and leaned into his ear.
“I am many… and yet one. I have been called many things… but to you, I am Lucifer.”
I sucked in my breath, and he glanced at me and winked again. I felt like I sank. My knees felt weak, and I gripped Josh’s hand so hard, I was sure that the blood stopped flowing in my hand and his. He didn’t shake me off though, and I really don’t know if he could have anyway.
Johnathan fell to his knee and grabbed his stomach as he groaned.
I wanted to run to his side and help him up, but the man stood above him and closed his eyes.
“Seems that it is almost midnight,” he said, as he pulled out an old pocket watch and popped it open.
He tapped his long fingernail on it and snapped it shut.
“You know what that means… my friend is coming,” he said.
I stepped out from behind Josh, and he tried to stop me.
I stood there and looked at my hands, as they started to vibrate.
“It’s me,” I said.
The man looked at me and smiled.
He stepped out from behind Johnathan who still knelt on the floor, moaning as each moment passed by. I gritted my teeth and stared the man down, as he tilted his head at me.
“You believe that you are that of creation,” he said.
Josh stepped up behind me and placed his hands out in front of him; I could feel his energy start to build. I sighed and looked over at Kai on the floor and then back at Johnathan on the floor.
Lizzy stepped forward and hissed.
“Kill her,” she whispered.
The man reached his hand out in her direction, without looking, and clinched his fist. Lizzy grabbed her throat, and her eyes narrowed. He glanced at her and grinned.
“You are a nuisance, Aiwass, always have been. I fear that I allowed you to doddle around on this planet too long.”
Lizzy shook her head, as her body rose off the floor. I watched her rise as she kicked her feet, hanging onto her throat. Black smoke started to rise under her, and a hole opened up. The wind picked up in the room… hot and filled with a stench of burning flesh. Lizzy glanced under her and shook her head.
“Father… please, I only wanted to do your will,” she choked out.
The man tilted his head and grinned.
“My will is my own, and your love for me did not motivate your actions… it was your need for power that has sealed your fate,” he said.
He raised his hand and brought it down, making a thunderous sound that echoed in the room. Sam, Josh, and I covered our ears as a high-pitched screaming rose up, and we watched Lizzy start to glitch in the air. The man pulled his hand to the side, and a creature ripped from Lizzy’s body and floated there next to her, reaching out towards her. It looked hideous… pale white, with deep cracks in the skin in black. It was hairless and thin… like someone who had not eaten for months… Its eyes were black as night… with pointed yellowing teeth, and it hissed and swung its bony hands around, swiping the air with yellow cracked fingernails.
The man quickly swung his hand towards the floor, and the demon flew towards the gaping hole, screeching and yelling out in a language that burnt my eardrums and made my head swirl and ache like a sudden migraine. Just as the demon fell into the hole, Lizzy’s body started to twitch. The man waved his hand, and the hole closed up. Lizzy fell to the floor, where the hole had been. Black smoke, still rising from the ring, floated into the air and dissipated. Lizzy lay there and then took the deepest breath, like the one that you suck in at birth for the first time. She rolled on her side and coughed up blood onto the floor. The man leaned down and looked at her small frame and grinned.
“This is not your doing,” he said, as he waved his hand.
She rolled on her back and shuddered, as her breath started to even out. I stood there shocked, like I had just seen a car wreck and bodies flying across the road. The man looked at me and smiled.
“You have a charming way of reasoning things in your mind,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes and stared him down.
“You are the devil,” I said.
He laughed and stepped over Lizzy and was in my face before I could blink.
“If that is what you wish to call me… but I really would prefer Lucifer, it is my name,” he said.
“Okay, Lucifer… what is the skinny?” I asked him.
He grinned, and Josh stepped up behind me and grabbed my arm.
I pulled it from him and stared Lucifer down.
He sucked at his breath, and it clicked in his mouth at mine. I didn’t know why I didn’t move… I couldn’t tell you really. I mean, there I was staring into the eyes of the most feared creature in the history of man, and all I feel is this defiance welling up in me. He closed his eyes and then opened them. Then he blinked from the sides of his eyes, and that kinda freaked me. I mean, it looked weird.
He grinned and rubbed his chin.
“I would love to have your fire,” he said.
I smiled and so did he.
“Mmmm,” he said, as he looked back at Johnathan.
“I will tell you what; I will let all of you live… if you do me a favor,” he said.
“A deal with the devil, sounds great,” I said.
Josh coughed out a laugh behind me, and Lucifer looked at him.
“You, I hate, so silence!” he said.
Josh took a breath and looked at me.
I shrugged my shoulders and looked back at Lucifer.
“He is a pain in ass, I admit it… but he is my pain in the ass,” I said.
Lucifer grinned and stepped back from me.
“Eat Johnathan,” he said.
I looked at Johnathan and tilted my head.
“What....? Like nummy down on him?” I asked.
Lucifer clapped his hands together and smiled.
“You are just the best, you know it?” he said.
“I would say thanks… but no,” I said.
“Watch this,” he said, as he waved his hand towards Kai and he started to move. Lucifer looked at me and grinned.
“I just brought him back. I can do so much… including let him die again,” he said.
I looked at Kai and then back at Johnathan.
�
��I can’t,” I said.
Lucifer looked at me and tilted his head.
“You have killed for less… like that stupid horse outside of Valon,” he said.
“That was anger… and self-preservation,” I said.
Lucifer smiled and waved his hand. Josh and Sam fell behind me and moaned, as they both coughed up blood. I turned and sucked in my breath as I watched them roll around in pain.
“Stop,” I said.
I felt him next to me, and then he circled me, as I closed my eyes.
“We are just about out of time, Rue… The clock will strike midnight, and then Johnathan will change… into something I cannot even kill,” he said.
I opened my eyes and looked at him as he slid in front of me and smiled, his tongue licking his lips.
“Why can’t you kill him now?” I asked.
“Oh… it has to be someone he loves… It will stop that heart from beating,” he said.
“He doesn’t love me anymore,” I said, as I looked at him.
“Oh, the heart… it is a funny thing; it really is. It has caused cities to fall… men to murder, you know… all the really juicy stuff,” he said.
We both looked up when Jonah came strolling in, wiping blood from his mouth.
I looked at him, and he grinned and looked at Lucifer.
“Oh. Look, it is the prodigal son,” Lucifer said, as he stepped from me and towards Jonah.
Jonah stood his ground, like he had no fear.
In fact, he looked cocky in my opinion.
“Hello Lucifer, I see you already dispatched of Aiwass… He is a pain in the ass, you know.”
Lucifer smiled and glanced back at me.
“This is why I love Jonah; he talks to me like we are best friends.”
Jonah’s presence put him in good mood, or must have, because Josh and Sam stopped coughing and stood up behind me. I reached back and felt Josh place his hand in mine. It was a sense of relief, and not, all at the same time. I mean, this king of demons could kill them in a heartbeat, and for some reason, Jonah had him feeling generous.
“Oh, he does do that,” Lucifer said, as he turned and smiled at me.
“Jonah here, was the first of your kind to turn… to me,” he said.
Lucifer stopped and looked at Lizzy. He smiled and waved his hand over her. She pushed herself up and rubbed her arms, looking around like she had just woken from a terrible nightmare. Jonah looked at her and sighed. He nodded to Lucifer and walked to her. I watched him touch her face, and she flinched, like she didn’t trust his intentions… and if it was me I would not have either. I mean, the boy did kill her.
